Help Wanted
by sailormai20
Summary: Self-centered Suigetsu is hired by the Uchiha family as the body guard of their youngest child, Sasuke who is in show business and has an ego the size of Jupiter. "Help Wanted" - more like psychiatrist wanted! Contains a side of Kisa/Ita. NaNoWriMo 2012 Project.
1. The Job

"You've had more than you can handle, brat."  
"Shove it Kisame." The older man snorted, trying to fit his too-large frame on the too-small stools comfortably. Giving up and barking an order at the izakaya's owner, he turned back to his barely younger companion, starting a conversation that he really couldn't care less about. "Your brother says you're in a bit of shit."  
"Mangetsu doesn't know anything."  
"Except for the fact you're being evicted from your apartment in the next week because you refuse to sit still at a job?" He didn't get a real answer, just some disgruntled mutterings that existed to show the younger's displeasure and the truth in Kisame's words. "You need to get it together. Either get a job and stick with it and behave like the adult you now are-" ("Barely! My birthday was a week ago!") "-or you can go home and laze around there rather than making an arse of yourself here."  
"What difference does it make to you where I laze around?"  
"If you're at home, you ain't my problem. Here, your god damned brother keeps bitching and making sure I check up on you - I've got more important things to do than deal with your childish attitude."

He was clearly disbelieving and decided to set a challenge in the most childish way; "Like what?" He might as well have said "Prove it".  
"You know the Uchiha family? I'm the bodyguard for the eldest son, Itachi." And that's when genius struck. "Oi. Sasuke, the younger one, needs a new bodyguard - the other one got hit by a car or something. You should apply."  
"You bitch at me because you have to look after me, then want to be around me more? What are you playing at?"

"If you're around, Suigetsu," said Kisame slowly, like he was explaining something to a small child, "I don't have to waste my free time chasing your arse around town. I can booze up, eat pizza, watch tv and do whatever the hell I feel like without dealing with you and your annoying brother. Half the time I have to leave work early, which not only means I get paid less, it means Itachi has to stay at the Manor, which he gets pissed about. Just apply all right? I'll text you the details later. If you don't want the job, find a new one quick or I'll be sending you back home to Obama myself."

With that, Kisame left, throwing down some money for his beer and _kara-age_, leaving Suigetsu by himself. He finished his own food and order another beer, muttering about both his interfering brother and his brutish friend. Hearing a girlish (if not incredibly drunken) shriek, he turned to the source. A trio of girls, roughly his own age, were all staring at the tiny flickering tv screen in the corner opposite them, babbling about the boy pictured there. The subtitles flashed the name (in horrid pink comic-esque katakana) _Uchiha Sasuke, _beneath the pale smiling face. His phone flashed and buzzed loudly on the bench beside him.

Glancing at the message and the pretty face on the screen again, he sighed. Suigetsu threw his own money down. Well, he certainly didn't want to deal with a smarmy little rich kid all day, especially not one who's ego looked to be the size of Jupiter, but he certainly didn't fancy going back to tiny old Obama either.

It certainly wasn't his dream job, but the pay looked good and it seemed easy enough. There was an "obligation to protect Sasuke at all costs" and to have a "professional attitude" (he snorted at that) as well as to "uphold the values and beliefs of the Uchiha Clan". It all seemed pretty stupid to be honest. Kisame had mentioned the Uchiha's were more than just 'strict' on their kids, so really, what trouble could a rich boy with strict overbearing parents get into?

A week later and he was in the middle of Tokyo (this time in a fancy-pants high rise rather than a dingy back alley _izakaya_), dressed in a suit, clutching a bottle of water like it was the only thing that kept him sane. He honestly hadn't thought he'd get an interview; he'd had twelve jobs since he finished high school and the longest he'd ever held one was three months. He'd also been kicked out of one or two apartments for not paying rent on time (it wasn't that he didn't have the money, he just couldn't care less about paying on time and the effort of finding the landlord was a drag - Suigetsu was the life of every party, so finding someone to lend him a couch for a few nights was never an issue); his current landlord had been sceptical but had agreed to give him an extra week, and let him stay permanently so long as he got this job. Grandma's always fell for the sob stories.

A woman called out his name and waited for him to heave himself out of the comfy lobby chairs before escorting him to the lift. "When you arrive, please take a seat; Fugaku-sama will be out to meet you shortly afterwards." With a nod from him and a low bow from her, the doors shut with a _ding_ and the long journey to the 57th floor began.

Thankfully he didn't have to wait long upon his arrival. Fugaku (was that his name?) had buzzed through to yet another secretary and he was allowed to go through an imposing set of wooden doors. The young man gave the older man a thorough yet subtle look over (Suigetsu had always held the belief that it was better to size an opponent up before a fight than at the start of one). He was an older man, probably early 40's, with a stern face and square jaw. He was expensively dressed in a crisp suit that made his own look like ratty old rags. He was fit enough for his stout frame and while there were a few grey hairs, age had treated him quite kindly.

"Hozuki Suigetsu, is it?"  
"Yes sir."  
"20 years of age, completed and passed high school in your birth place of Obama, never moved on to higher education?"  
"Yes sir." (It sounded so much cooler when he said "I'm old enough to drink now, was known by everyone back home, smartest in all my classes, am well enough off financially to party rather than study the rest of my life!"… this way made him seem… a little dumb, to be honest)

Fugaku asked a few more dull and seemingly irrelevant questions, making him more nervous by the minute. Why didn't he ask how many men he could take down without a weapon? Surely that would be useful to know since his son was going to be in a stranger's care?

"Kisame has spoken highly of you." _Aw shit_, fish man was in on this? He thought he was just going to give him details, not a word! Now he owed him one! "Though he has also said that you can be rowdy and down-right rude on occasions. How would you describe yourself?"

_Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit!_

A few minutes ticked by and he started to sweat. How the hell was he supposed to answer something like that? Well, the cards were out, might as well answer in the same manner - this thing couldn't go much worse than it had now, right?

"Well, I am loud and do enjoy my free time to the fullest and I am not always the nicest person." God he just wanted to tell the man to shove it, he was going home and leaving his polite language at the door. "As I received a significant inheritance from my parent's deaths, there is no need for me to work, so having too much time but nothing to do has left me with far too much energy. However, I feel as if I had a significant challenge, my energy would be focussed and I would have something to strive and struggle for."

Fugaku, who had stopped looking at him in the strained silence, had paused in his paper shuffling. Suigetsu felt more than creeped out by that intense eye-to-eye stare, especially considering he hadn't finished his desperate attempt to save his arse yet.

"A significant challenge..?" He nodded slightly and the silence began again. Was this his queue to start rambling and bullshitting again? Or was he supposed to wait for Fugaku to kick him out at his own pace?  
"You're hired. My secretary will give you the details of your first shift and other information you will need. Dismissed."

Seemingly on auto-pilot, he thanked the man and twitched into a low bow before exiting the room, having no idea what the hell had just happened. The woman he received the papers off smirked at him in a way that made him even more nervous (was he perhaps dreaming? Hallucinating? Or was this some type of hugely elaborate prank?). She sent him off and it wasn't until he reached his own apartment (after being accosted by Granny who demanded the results and seemed slightly put off by the fact he had suceeded) that he realised he had no idea what the secretary had said, let alone her name or number (workmates were totally cool to hook up with - if you were professional enough, you could have both work and fun).

He spent the night pouring over the documents (his family would have been shocked - he'd never looked at this many pages in all of his schooling career, not to mention in a night). The Uchiha Brothers were going to be filming a new tv show. It wasn't important for him to know details though occasionally there would be reporters and a live audience. It was also expected that fans would gather around the studio - his job was to allow Sasuke to interact with the fans but not let them get too close. His duties would only be in place for when Sasuke was out of the family home or if people foreign to the home's natural environment (who the hell worded things like that? The word was 'guest'!) such as interviewers and photographers were present.

The chauffeurs would drive them around and he was expected to do whatever Sasuke wanted (though the documents seemed to imply he was allowed to bully other staff to do those things for him, so there was less time he was away from the boy). Additionally, as long as he was incredibly subtle, the contract allowed him to carry a weapon with him (guns were not included as they were illegal country-wide and if he was found with one, the Uchiha family would side with the police; any other weapon and their legal team would support him). For such a high-flying family, they did seem to like to toe the line, but hey, not his problem, if anything, it made his job safer, more interesting and more enjoyable.

The next day, at lunch at his new work place, he wasn't thinking the job was so fantastic anymore. At sixteen years old, Sasuke was tall and pale, soft face framed by silky looking black hair. His eyes were dark and wide and that god damned smirk that all the girls found to be "charming" and "sexy" seemed to be permanently plastered to his face. The boy was as much of a smart arse little brat as he was pretty, if not more so. And the little shit knew he could get away with anything (hearing more about the former bodyguard and listening to Sasuke's whining about being bored despite the riches and mountains of stuff he had at his disposal had him thinking the boy had planned and actioned the entire thing).

After a tour around the house, Suigetsu and his charge were left alone. He groaned as the first words out of the brat's mouth were a promise to make him quit quickly. What the hell had he gotten himself into?

* * *

Hello! This is my Nano2012 project! I will edit each chapter first, so don't worry about it being too much garbage haha! It will be updated fortnightly or monthly and is already at 42k, and will probably reach 60k before finishing. Please let me know what you think!

Notes: Obama - small fishing town in Japan, has water festivals and various traditions. I'm calling it the real world "Village Hidden in the Mist" ;p  
kara-age: Fried chicken; izakaya: essentially a casual bar (The age of adulthood is 20 in Japan)


	2. The Devil Wears Prada

"You're a real piece of work, aren't you kid?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Suigetsu snorted, not even trying to tiptoe around the brat anymore like he had for the first few days. "That's not a very polite way of talking to your boss either." Sasuke had smirked; he wanted Suigetsu out but so soon would be suspicious; additionally, the other did know what he was up to, so it was best just to sit and wait things out for a bit. It definitely wouldn't be for too long; he liked his freedom far too much for that.

It wasn't that he didn't like the man (he was barely a man, only having recently turned twenty; he was still in the phase of 'hitting up' clubs whenever he could - Sasuke put the new phrase away for future reference, as he did for most of the words Suigetsu came out with). Suigetsu was honestly the best guard he had ever had. Most were old boring guys who were strict, hoping to get somewhere further. Most tried to bully him into behaving, so their job would be easy with amazing pay. Not happening! At sixteen, Sasuke was in no mood whatsoever to sit pretty and do as he was told. He had the whole world to explore and damn it if he wasn't allowed to simply to make some stranger's life easier!

Suigetsu was an idiot, no doubt about it, and while he certainly wasn't rich, thanks to his inheritance, he was a lot better off than most people his age. Working was just to keep him amused during the hours of the day when drinking and partying and making lewd comments to girls in short skirts weren't acceptable. He had grown up in the same fishing town as Kisame and had the same weird pointy teeth and affinity for the ocean. They also shared something in their personalities that made them a bit more morbid. Creepy fish men. He shuddered slightly, letting his imagination running away with the thought.

"Are you doing anything today? What am I supposed to be doing?"  
"My manager and the producer for our new show are showing up. There will be an interview later in the day as well as a small photo shoot."  
"Serious question now kid."  
"Don't call me kid!"

"If you're planning to get rid of me, what does it matter?" Huffing, Sasuke refused to verbally admit he was right, but dropped the point. "Do you ever have any fun?"

Fun? How could he not? He had every video game system available, with more than enough games. He had his own gym (well, he shared it with Itachi, but his brother was a twig, far too delicate for 'actual work' according to his displeased father) and a horse, plus his own crazy cat, Tobi, so it's not like he just sat around on his butt all day. He played the piano and loved his job: he had fans (some polite, most loyal, all crazy), got to sing and act and travel and get paid for doing what he wanted. He had his own library and enjoyed time with his mother doing a variety of the things she loved whenever she was home. What the hell was this idiot going on about?

Suigetsu merely shook his head when he verbalised that thought. "What about going out? I dunno, do you go to arcades or stuff? Friends? Ever had a girlfriend? Or boyfriend, if that's your thing? What about school? How are your grades? What clubs are you in?" Sasuke was stunned - he honestly had no idea what this guy was on about. Suigetsu gestured to the wide, neatly manicured yard in front of them, waving his arms widely.

"Your life seriously can't be contained in these four walls can they? Oh sorry, forgot about how you're always being carted off to wherever you need to work, then shipped back here." Here Sasuke started to scowl - _he_ was the one in control of _everything_ he did, nobody else! "What about seeing the world! Or hell, even the city! With everything you have already, the resources at your fingertips and that cunning brain in your head, nothings stopping you!"

He never got to say anything to that as Midori, the household's head maid, called them in, informing them it was time to begin the meeting. Fish man was lucky she had arrived, because he seriously would have been fired in a heart beat otherwise! The nerve, saying he was too cowardly to leave! He'd show him!

/|\

He had never been to something so boring in his entire life. Apart from the bit of an outburst at Sasuke this morning, the rest of the day had been soul-suckingly dull. The manager blabbed on about various projects and the show and photo shoots and fan meets and tv appearances and god knows what else. He didn't need to be there for that as she had been Sasuke's manager since he became a star and was practically family. Thank god! If he hadn't been dying of boredom, he certainly would have been dying of hunger!

"How's things?"  
"I didn't need you to put in a good word y'know!"  
"I didn't."  
"What? But Fugaku-"  
"Use honorifics idiot. I told him you're a brat and deserve to be dragged by your bleached hair all the way home. He figured you'd either prove me right and I could get you back home and out of my hair; or you'd pull of some type of miracle and convince him you were good enough to look after Sasuke."  
"What the hell did I say? You did training for this stuff, and compared to you, I'm a stick with a crap education."  
"I believe the words went something like _'I want a challenge'_."  
"Aw, shit."  
"Be careful what you wish for, huh?"

Kisame laughed at him more over lunch, completely agreeing that Sasuke was a cunning little brat, but he had a soft side too. The mood turned a little sour when Suigetsu brought up the fact that Itachi seemed over-protected (having more than just Kisame guarding him on some occasions) whereas Sasuke only had the one newbie looking after him.

"Itachi is the prodigal son, the genius." Kisame informed, putting it into simple speech seeing his co-worker's confused expression. "The eldest is always prized more for these old families, but Itachi is something special. It's like everything he touches turns to gold. But he doesn't let it get to his head - he's incredibly humble and polite but knows how to get his point across."

"Whereas Sasuke's a whiny little brat."

"Yeah and while part of the blame lies with how he's been spoiled by everyone from staff to the industry to his parents, part of it is because he's bitter about the attention Itachi gets. He doesn't care for anyone but Itachi, and vice versa. Itachi would gladly shove all the attention to Sasuke."

"Is Sasuke made of the same stuff though?"  
"I've never seen him use his head for more than causing trouble, but I honestly wouldn't doubt he's capable of the same things Itachi is. He'd just go about them in either a much sneakier or more confrontational way."

Trying to speak around a mouthful of food, Kisame eventually understood Suigetsu was trying to ask what the difference was. Unfortunately, that was lunch break over for the both of them as the new producer had arrived.

Returning to the office, Kisame took his place next to the man that had to be Itachi (Suigetsu was surprised at how girly he looked, not to mention how friendly boss and bodyguard were acting). He returned to Sasuke's side, wondering what else Kisame was going to say before they were again interrupted. Perhaps the Devil wasn't such a dastardly bastard after all.

/|\

While he may not have been a dastardly bastard, he certainly was a camera whore (he much preferred the type that took their clothes off, but since Mama and Papa Uchiha were loitering around somewhere, he kept those words to himself). Though it almost seemed odd. He wasn't fluent in Uchiha-speak, let alone the more complicated sub-genre of Sasuke nor was he BFFs with the kid, but the Sasuke that appeared in front of the camera didn't seem to be the real Sasuke. He was chirpier and flirtier, less sarcastic and held a different level of politeness than normal (he was very formal with his parents, a little less so with his manager and crudely casual with anyone he deemed annoying or not worthwhile talking to).

In front of the camera, he seemed to flit between attitudes and respect levels and temperaments like a little bird. He was reminded of a bird because a bird was free, but if it was in a cage, it only held a certain amount of freedom. It seemed to fit the youngest son perfectly (and if the tales of him bullying people into quitting, getting them fired, faking sick frequently and god knows what else were true, he had to wonder if the cage wasn't to reign in the brat's ego rather than to make him sit happily in his father's hand). On the other hand, he truly had to wonder if the little bird was happy in his extravagant cage; perhaps the better question, especially after this mornings discussion, was if he even knew he was in a cage?

After the interview, Itachi had his turn while Sasuke got a quick break for lunch (he was warned not to mess up his outfit, hair and makeup which both Suigetsu and Sasuke snorted at - the brat was eating a sandwhich, not rolling around in a pig sty). The break, however, was short lived; it was straight to the photo shoot after that. The photos of the duo were going into a major teen magazine, while single photos of Itachi were going into a magazine aimed at woman in university and Sasuke's were going into the teen girl magazines (the bluenette found it interesting there was no poster of Itachi or one of them together; though Itachi seemed to be a lot more mellow and less inclined to step out compared to Mr Charismatic so it figured he'd have the larger fan base).

Once the final picture had been taken with an obnoxiously loud _snap_ by the ridiculously technical looking camera, the various staff left after thanking everyone for their hard work. Thankfully, that meant he was free to go to, unless little Uchiha actually enjoyed having a babysitter (the scowl he got at that remark made him chuckle - the kid has the most ridiculous facial expressions sometimes!). It was Friday. He wasn't needed back at work until Monday. Even then, it was for more dull interviews where he sat in the back of the room, pretending to look alert while nothing of interest to anyone (except Fugaku's bank accounts) happened. He had never been so happy for to greet the weekend before.

/|\

Six hours later and he was headed for a bitch of a hangover the next day. The glass of god-knows-what he'd picked up from the bench (had he ordered something? Was it a gift? Did he need to pay? Fuck it) was roughly shoved back down and two men glowered down at him.

"If you'd picked up your phone, you'd have known we have work tomorrow."  
"I hate you, you know?"

Itachi frowned at their exchange. Kisame must have filled him in on their shared origins and how they knew each other and all that jazz because he didn't bother to ask his name or introduce himself properly (rude!) before starting his own rant.

"My brother needs someone who will actually do his job. He is, to put it politely, a free spirit, and will not bend to your will. My father hired you because you said you wanted a challenge. The challenge is this: keep Sasuke safe and out of trouble. If that is far too much for you to handle, you may tell me you're resigning now and I will pass that on to my father."

Somewhat stunned about where the hell this had come from and why the hell they were ganging up on him (really, he was boozing up, it's not like he was complaining every five minutes about what a horror Sasuke was) Suigetsu sat there, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. The silence grew (between them at least; the rest of the club was almost vibrating with sound) before some words finally floundered into his mouth.

"Um, my phone kinda broke which is why I didn't know." They didn't need to know it'd actually gone for an accidental swim in the loo… "I said I wanted a challenge cuz I was bullshitting my way into the job, like everyone does when they go to interviews." Seeing Itachi frown and Kisame heave a heavy sigh, he plowed over the top of them. "But now you're doubting me, being utterly _rude_ and pissing me off, so yeah actually, I'll take your damn challenge and I'll see you bright and god damn early tomorrow morning."

"Six am, brat. Be there."

"_You _ be there." Okay, so he wasn't too fantastic at insults and comebacks when he was not entirely sober, but that speech before was pretty damn good (he felt better when they walked away and he muttered a quiet "Bitches" under his breath; he loved having the last word, and no, it _wasn't _cheating to say it when their backs were turned!).

Waiting until they'd fully left the vicinity, he ordered another something or rather with a grunt and a wave, sculled it, paid and stumbled out. He knew without a doubt he'd regret it in the morning, but if that was going to be his last night of freedom (he had a feeling he was going to get called in a lot more frequently on his days off than he'd prefer) he was going to go down in… well, style wasn't the right word considering he just stumbled into a wall, but he'd make it somewhat memorable at the very least.

/|\

Five thirty am and he was there before Kisame. Sasuke hated to admit it, but he was impressed. His mother invited Suigetsu to join them for breakfast and slipped him some headache tablets (his mother saw and knew everything, which was partly why he'd never bothered to try anything; everyone knew that it was actually his mother's word that was law and he'd never disappoint her - his father could be damned for all he cared). The new staff member smiled graciously and thanked her, digging heartily into the food. Scrunching his nose up at the display, he continued on with his own meal, only looking up when Itachi entered (Kisame close behind - when the hell had he arrived?) shortly followed by his father.

Breakfast was a more interesting affair than normal. Suigetsu won his mother over and managed to make his father snort (he was unsure as to whether his father found the quip funny or was amused by his guard's idiocy). Kisame was trying to quietly and subtly fret over Itachi, who looked more than slightly peaky to be true, but also appeared to be more than annoyed at the kindness being shown. Sasuke frowned; Itachi had been a sickly child and did occasionally relapse, but surely his parents would have noticed? Perhaps they did and he'd just been left out of such an important conversation; there was certainly nothing new about that.

There was a meeting after breakfast - the filming for the show would start soon and there would also be a bit of travelling happening with certain staff members having to attend lest they be fired. Today, Fugaku had gotten the bright idea of a family outing. Whoopee. By eleven am sharp, they were being driven into town in the family limousine (along with Kisame and Suigetsu; his parents didn't have guards with them supposedly though everyone knew that was bullshit - they were multi-billionaires and if even one was a hostage, a mass of power would be held over the other three family members - their guards were everywhere and blended into every day society without a problem). Half an hour later, they were there. Not long after that, so was the paparazzi, though they stayed at a respectable distance thanks to Fugaku's legal team (a few years ago someone had made up a dumb rumour that, had it been true, would have been incredibly incriminating so _bam!_ The lawyers bullied the media into staying at a reasonable distance from the family and into not publishing anything to do with the scandal unless they wanted to be prohibited from ever publishing anything related to the family again - needless to say, such revenue and interest was not wise to lose, so the family got their way and breathing space in public).

A light lunch ("be careful what you order - too little and they'll say you're anorexic, too much and you'll be obese") was had before Mikoto dragged the men shopping. As gay as it sounded, it was his favourite part of the day. He loved his mother and enjoyed spending time with her - after a while, his father and brother would get bored, leaving just the two of them to laugh about whatever and go sneak in icecream or coffee and cake. Their part of town was a bit small (compared to other places he'd been to in the city) but that was because it was aimed towards the higher end. They stopped in at various designer stores; Gucci, Prada and Burberry were always on the list. But the afternoon couldn't last forever (nor could time with his mother - his father was clearly overprotective and madly in love with her to ever leave her alone for too long; when was the last time he'd expressed even a tenth of that emotion to his sons? Well, just him actually - Itachi was perfect after all).

A quick walk around town to prove they were all still together, no fight had occurred between them. This was followed by afternoon tea and the ride back home. Once there, staff were dismissed and the smiling happy faces dropped. Fugaku returned to his office, Itachi dragged Kisame somewhere to discuss 'business' leaving he and his mother in the open entry of the manor, quietly wondering exactly when things had fallen apart.

* * *

What do you think of the characterisations? Are they accurate? Please review and let me know~


	3. Little Bird In His Golden Cage

_She remembered a time when laughter filled the house. It was much smaller than the one she currently resided in and she was a lot younger back then. Her family wasn't poor, but they weren't rolling around on luxurious sheets on a bed in the Bahamas either. She struggled through school with the part time job she kept from those who educated her. Her elder brother had quit as soon as he was legally allowed to, gaining two part time jobs to help feed the family. At the time, she felt guilty and horrible for not going to university. Instead, she'd done what she'd always wanted to do, ever since she'd starred in a toy commercial for Barbie when she was three - _perform.

_She did everything and anything relating to performing arts - she started with ballet and singing, because her mother was old fashioned (and was footing the bill) and said it was that or tap dancing. Of course, she'd agreed - she succeeded in those fields and she was granted scholarships to study whatever she fancied. But it was two weeks before her final ballet recital that she met him. _Uchiha Fugaku.

_Everyone knew him and his family. They had a finger in every pie and wouldn't hesitate to tell you how worthless you were. But she was curious - what was the son of (arguably) Japan's most influential family doing in a ballet class? To this day, she never found out that reason, but perhaps that didn't matter so much. He'd swept her off her feet and provided her family with more than they ever needed. She got to have her flashy career and become a star. She had a nice car and a big house. Two beautiful children and a husband who adored her and cherished her more than she deserved._

_But where had the laughter gone?_

_~.~_

November Third, 2012; 6:07am

*Hello*

_Hi everyone!_  
Itachi and I are excited to announce that we now have our own television show! We start filming today (I'm actually supposed to be getting ready now! Haha) and the show should start in a month or so. I'm not allowed to say much more, but I hope you look forward to it and continue to support us!  
_Always, Sasuke (and Itachi too, I suppose!)_

Reading the little snippet posted by his charge (and skimming through the hundreds of comments already posted by legions of crazy fangirls), Suigetsu confirmed Sasuke was different when he was in the spotlight or was doing anything related to his spotlight covered self. The other day when the family had been out, he was surprised to see the walls drop as soon as the other men left. He'd known from day dot he was a mama's boy but the two seemed to share the same spirit. They snickered and laughed constantly, but barely spoke, almost as if all their jokes were told via telepathy. Mikoto was still chirpy to everyone, being a warm and bubbly person by nature, but something made him think she was told to stifle it to fit the image of Uchiha.

Though the brat was right; he was supposed to be getting ready, not typing nonsense for fangirls. Midori poked her head around the corner, scowling as she'd already seen the post. "I'm already on it, Greeny!" The scowl deepened and he walked off with a cheerful smirk. Pounding on the door, he barged on in without waiting for an answer, ignoring the indignant shout. "Hurry up brat. If you've got time to post a message to your legion of loonies you should have been dressed already."

A huff and a mutter of choice words he'd never say within ear shot of mummy dearest, but in the hearing of his street wise herder, the words were everyday talk and barely earned acknowledgement. The kid needed a bit more of a 'real world' touch, something that he wasn't getting in his gold and silver plated world. He knew Fugaku wouldn't be pleased, but Suigetsu thought he was doing the kid a world of good. While not the brainiest of the bunch, he knew how to google (more specifically, google people who knew how to find what google couldn't). Many things about the Uchiha Clan were never ever going to see the light of day - that attitude and fear of the family had existed for generations.

The blog Sasuke ran with such dedication and care (the thing that was his only connection to the world that was not a puppet of the Clan)? A lot of content was censored including every single thing that could be taken in a negative light (those addresses were completely banned from the system and his source suggested their systems were hacked soon after but he couldn't confirm that). No scandal had ever rocked the main family (some of the minor members of outlying branches, but that was only because the media knew the surname would get them ratings and profits, even though they weren't the Uchiha's people wanted to know about). Interestingly, Mikoto's family was never mentioned (except from a few news articles that reported her marrying in to the family; there were photos that merely said "Mikoto's family" or "members from both families were present" but nothing _good_). There were no raunchy interviews, no risque questions, no love interest for either son. There was _nothing._ And to be completely honest, that worried him a lot more than he cared to admit.

It was inevitable that the media would find something before it could be banned by the legal team. What would happen when something broke? Fugaku would deny it and rush like a bull at a gate to destroy the problem; he was a typical man of his family after all - cunning, dominating and very protective of his privacy and the things he deemed belonged to him. He had to remind himself that perhaps he wasn't 'the bad guy' - this wasn't an action blockbuster; it was real life. Perhaps he truly was trying to do his best by his family, his never ceasing devotion for his wife and admiration and pride for Itachi certainly proved he cared in some way. Mikoto's first concern would be the well being of her family, though he was concerned as to if she was confined like Sasuke and if she was, how far did her cage let her run? Itachi wasn't his concern. He was legally an adult and Fugaku wouldn't let anything happen to him. Even if the show business thing went belly up, Itachi was a genius and could easily go into a number of different fields without the slightest worry. Besides, Kisame was his guard; it was up to him to pick up the pieces.

But what of the Sasuke? The boy wasn't an adult and unlike most kids, had never experienced bullying or been in a fight and unlike most stars, never had the press within an inch of his face, yelling accusations and demanding questions. If something bad were to happen, he'd be completely lost. It wasn't his business to pry or protect (physically yes, but he didn't have the right to check his mail or anything like that - that was purely because other people did it in a way Sasuke had no clue about), but hell, it just didn't sit right. The kid, while smart, was honestly dumb in every way that mattered (in his book at least).

A girl could easily snatch him up and take every penny from his account. Or get all of his deepest, darkest secrets and publish them, earning herself a name and a fortune all of her own. It didn't have to be a girl; even someone masquerading under the term 'friend' could ruin not only Sasuke, but the entire family too.

It was against everything he thought about people surviving for themselves, but this kid honestly had no clue. While it might get him fired, he'd do his best to make sure the little bird actually got to spread his wings a bit. Besides, nobody was ever hurt from too much preparation.

~.~

He'd obviously cursed himself somehow when he had thought of horrible women who could do too much damage. Uzumaki Karin was his own age, a bit shorter than him and a temper that could wrestle a dinosaur into submission. Though of course, she was all politeness and fluttery eyelashes and low cut shirts when the boys came out to film (Mama and Papa Uchiha weren't here; even after knowing her for a matter of five minutes, he knew she wouldn't have had the balls to do that in front of such powerful people). He had no idea what she actually did though. She just seemed to flit around and boss people around and yell a lot. She also insulted him as well, which he responded to in kind, making her face turn the same bright tomato colour as her hair. Eventually they were both told to shut up so filming could start. He grudgingly did so though he knew he was in the right when he saw Sasuke smile more than he'd ever seen or believed he could (honestly he'd placed bets down, saying the boy's face would break into stone but you couldn't win 'em all, right?).

Suigetsu got along a lot better with Juugo (the man didn't talk much so they sat in silence for the most part but he had no idea what the giant did either). Perhaps nobody here actually worked except for the siblings and the camera guys. Stupid people wasted a lot of money, so it was possible (Karin hit him when she realised he'd lumped her in the stupid people category). The most interesting thing of the day was researching the company (filming wasn't interesting - he had plenty of opportunities to ponder and understand why Sauce underwent such a transformation under the spotlight). Turns out it was owned by the Senju Clan, who were the Uchiha's rival force (Karin was related by marriage or something, so no wonder she got a job there). The two families were polite enough and did business to prove they didn't hate the other, but you wouldn't call them friends either (the Senju were generally much more likeable and more successful in anything that required one to be social). The head of the family was Tsunade but she was heavily supported by her friend, Shizune, who was here at the filming. She wouldn't be there all the time, but it was interesting to meet her and find out more regarding both families. Unfortunately, she had been taught well. Tight-lipped, he didn't learn anything google couldn't give him; saying he wasn't an Uchiha spy had probably put her on her guard instead of removing her from it…

When the day was finally over, they returned home. He watched Sasuke silently worry over a grouchy Itachi (who was obviously ill with something or rather; thank god for makeup!) and get ignored by his father. Mikoto was doing some type of charity work up north. He watched the teen trudge heavily up the stairs, turned and went to his car before cursing and following the moody little brat to his room. Again, he knocked and barged in without warning (though the teen was far too tired to even grunt his displeasure).

The chocolate bar he'd thrown smacked the teen straight on the head and bounced off, landing on the plush carpeted floor with a soft thud, staying there as the boy stared at him with drowsy eyes. "You did good today, brat."

He was all for letting people survive on their own. That was the way things were supposed to be. But sometimes, you saw something that was just so pitiful you couldn't help but look after it, even though the consequences would suck. That was also the way things were supposed to be and as much as he hated it, it was what he was going to do, no matter what.


	4. Broken Bird

Sorry for the very late update! My internet is so slow it literally takes a good 20 minutes to load the hotmail log in page, so wasting ages trying to upload a chapter hasn't really been in my interests... In any case, including this chapter, I'll upload four chapters over the next few days! Please review!

* * *

November Twentieth, 2012; 12:31 pm

*Update on Filming!*

Hello everyone! I hope you're all well today!

So far, filming is going well. I'd like to thank all the crew for getting up so early and helping everything go smoothly!

At the moment, we're half way through the first season! (We hope you enjoy it enough so we can film a second one!) It's surprising how fast time goes by when you're having fun! I hope you all enjoy watching as much as we enjoy filming (it should be starting to show in the next few weeks so look out for it!)

Stay well during this cold weather! Sasuke and Itachi

Again, he was updating when he shouldn't be. He had no idea why either. It's not like any of his fans saw him beyond a pretty face and smooth voice. As soon as he did something mediocre (which he knew people were waiting for), they'd ditch him in a heart beat. They had plenty of other choices to go to and honestly, he didn't care if they ditched him. This whole thing was hollow and devoid of anything. It used to be his escape, the one thing he enjoyed over everything else, but that was before his father made it business, made it boring and allowed the industry to dictate his every move. The only good thing was spending time with Itachi, though even he was becoming more serious and cold (he kept cutting himself off before he said 'like father' because if he admitted that, what did he have left?).

Interestingly though, Suigetsu seemed to pick up on how he felt. The chocolate bar thing was odd but since then, the man had been a bit less sarcastic and a bit more interested on what he himself wanted. He was still an idiotic jerk, but a caring one. While he didn't like the coddling, it was nice to have someone care when they weren't being paid. His family didn't count - they were related by blood and therefore obligated to care (or feign care). He wouldn't say they were friends quite just yet (or that he even liked the moron), or that he wasn't going to stop plotting getting him fired or making him quit, but for the moment, it was nice to have someone who was truly genuine in how they behaved towards him. He didn't think being nice was going to get him a raise and he didn't try and make him behave perfectly - though he was encouraging him to rebel a bit and that probably wasn't what he should be doing either…

In any case, there was a family party to come soon; it'd be nice to have someone there who would do something other than make snide remarks about how he was always going to live in his brother's shadow (which was ironic even within itself, considering all those smart arses were washed up has-beens who had never experienced his level of success let alone Itachi's). But what could you do? That was family for you.

"Remember, in two weeks we will be having everyone visit, so do be on your best behaviour and don't misbehave."

Two dull "yes, father"'s answered him and dinner continued with Fugaku lecturing his sons on what the rest of the family had been up to (and how they needed to up their own game in return) and how to treat some of them, sons muttering their agreements whenever it was appropriate, not truly listening. Mikoto was still helping various charities up north and would only return a little before the reunion (he personally called it "brag about how great Itachi is day" which had made Suigetsu laugh - that counted as an achievement, right? For what he wasn't sure, but it made him feel good at any rate).

"Don't speak to Obito, he'll simply lead you astray." Sasuke frowned but nodded mutely.

Cousin Obito wasn't that bright and he was a klutz but he wasn't an idiot. He was kind and caring and was absolutely hilarious (his father frowned on most things that didn't require one to wear a poker face 24/7 so it wasn't any wonder he didn't like his boisterous cousin). Most of the time Fugaku ignored his mother's family; they'd never amounted to much, so why bother? But with his own family, it was different. Uchihas had to be the best at everything and anything; they owned everything and were known worldwide for whatever field (or fields) they were currently dominating. So it was embarrassing for Fugaku not to acknowledge him (because then it was like practically admitting his family had made someone who wasn't a cyborg) but he hated to talk to someone who he deemed to be so 'below' him. Obito was none of the things the family valued (though, like any Uchiha worth their salt, he had been taught how to 'breathe' fire - it was some old tradition from when their family had been kick arse ninjas) - he was a regular guy dumped in a family of ridiculously high standards. (Mikoto couldn't care less, she loved him too; she hated most of the ones Fugaku admired though, so they both kept their tongues to themselves in regards to his side of the family as a mutual agreement; Itachi was fawned over by everyone so why would he not like anyone?)

That was perhaps why he loved Obito the best. They were one in the same. There was always someone else better and brighter and nicer looking. Because of that, there was always someone to tell them how flawed they were. There was always something they needed to do better, even if it was impossible for them to do as the person they were. The only difference was how they reacted to the words and insults covered in sweetness. Obito took it in stride, laughing about how he was an idiot (and was often bright enough to turn it around and place idiocy on the other person). He had friends (having actually run away from the family to live with his 'friend' Kakashi) and enjoyed his life to every last second. The only thing that upset him was his job; he loved his city and it meant everything to him, so like many proud and patriotic Uchihas who weren't in an arts based industry, he became a police officer. The problem was the clan ran all of the police stations in the district, so he was never quite free of ridicule.

It had never been something he thought about, but Suigetsu mentioned his father might not like Obito for other reasons. Mainly, he was gay (okay, he had no proof but damn it, if he wasn't he'd eat his… something - the point was he was right!). To someone as traditional as Fugaku, the whole not settling down and reproducing thing was probably akin to blasphemy. He himself didn't find it a big deal - what did it truly matter? He honestly had no idea what he was; when the hell did he even see a girl his own age last? He saw plenty of older women (not much older, but it was still weird to think about that…) and they all liked to laugh and joke about how adorable he was for not ever having been kissed. Would they laugh if he was gay? Still think it was just as cute? But thinking back, when was the last time he'd had a conversation with a guy his age (who wasn't related to him)? He honestly couldn't think of anything… He'd never gotten what team Suigetsu cheered for but he'd have time to drag that information out of him.

There was nothing more than he wanted in life than to be like Obito. He wanted to be able to have a conversation with someone that wasn't scripted, hell, having an actual conversation for fun rather than work would be nice too. He wanted friends his own age, ones who would at least attempt to help him when things got rough. He wanted to be known as someone who was fun and lively; he actually wanted to be that person rather than just try and project the self he wished to be to the camera. But perhaps that wasn't for him. Perhaps he was just destined to be a child star, getting more and more famous before eventually losing his charm and fading into nothingness like the rest of his idiotic clan-mates (at least he'd still be rich enough to have a family of cats - or perhaps an army, so he would never have the press knocking at his door to question how his life became so dull and boring).

That was all well and good, but it was not something he should have said aloud. Well, maybe. He honestly had no idea what kind of nonsense his mouth had just blurted it out. Whatever it was, it wasn't good considering how Itachi's eyes widened and his father's face was turning an ugly puce colour.

"This…This!" He seethed and his and huffed for a few moments before he managed to make himself coherent. As his father tried to gain control of himself, he sunk into his chair, knowing that apologising would be futile - let him rant it out and things would calm down. "This, Sasuke, is why you will never be anywhere near your brother's level. You are rude and arrogant and there is absolutely nothing special about you. You might as well and go live with Obito!"

He was half-way through a retort when Itachi, perfect amazing best at everything never wrong _Itachi_ opened his god damned mouth. "Father, Sasuke is perfectly fine as he is. He is successful and tries hard. You know as well as I do he has more fans than I-"

"Fans with nothing but air and dust in their heads! You could hear a rock roll around in half of them! For what reason do they choose him over you? Because they lack any seriousness within them! They lack knowledge! And tries for what? He is given everything on a silver platter! Again, you're proving my point! Sasuke was about to yell and be disrespectful and _don't you deny it boy! _But no, you come in and save him! You are his knight and he should be thanking all the gods he has you or else where would he be? Nowhere, if not for you! You, however often it is stated, are the perfect child. You are humble and successful at all you do. You never argue with your elders and are not so disgustingly attached to your mother as this brat here is!"

He knocked over a glass when he slammed his hands down on the table - no doubt his father would fault him for being a clumsy idiot who needs anger management now, but he honestly couldn't care less. "Are you kidding me!? Why on earth do you think I'm attached to mother? It's because _you_, my so called father, are so neglectful! When was the last time you bothered to pretend you cared?!"

"Sasuke-"

"Shut up Itachi! You're just the same! You're so involved in yourself that you couldn't care either way! I don't want you saving me, especially when everything that father just said about me applies to you, but of course he can't have _two_ screw-up sons-"

"Sasuke, enough-"

"I'm so _sick_ of this pathetic excuse for a family! You're absolutely right father; I'd be a lot better off with Obito because I'd actually be able to _enjoy my life _without it being ruined by a washed up old loser like you!"

He honestly didn't see it coming. That was pretty stupid though, because his father was at the head of the table and needed to run around to his side to deck him in the face. Perhaps he hadn't really thought the old man was going to smack him at all, or at least not that hard. Perhaps his brain had thought he was just going to get grabbed by the collar and thrown out onto the street with a "then off you go!". But in all honestly, his brain probably wasn't even working (at this point, lying on the floor vaguely watching his father scream insults, spittle and god knows what else onto his prone form, he doubted whether he even had one because speaking back to Fugaku was the dumbest thing anyone could ever do).

He didn't entirely remember being thrown out of the dining room or walking up the stairs before collapsing on his bed, but he did remember seeing Suigetsu, standing shocked in the main entrance. But that couldn't be; he'd gone home hours earlier. He remembered muttering a bit to Midori (she was the last thing he remembered before passing out). She was placing ice on his eye and must've cleaned the cut his father's heavy set ruby ring left above his brow. He said things he'd never to say to his father (and after his lack of action, to his brother). He murmured of wanting a home, a family, of wanting to leave the cage. Though even to her (who he considered a second mother) or even to his own mother, he'd never say how much those words hurt; anger was natural; he'd been insulted and he was a proud person. But they cut and stung and antiseptic wasn't going to stop self-doubt and belief in his own worth and skills from festering and infecting every bit of his life.

The only one he thought he could tell was perhaps not a friend, but he'd take that over been alone any day.


	5. Nesting Bird

"I'm sorry, Sasuke."  
"I'm so sure."  
"Honestly, I-"  
"I don't care, Itachi. Just leave me alone. I'll talk to you when I feel like it."

His brother sighed and backed out of the room, closing it with a quiet click. He had done this every day for the last five days, sometimes more if he was feeling ambitious (or perhaps it was desperation). Every time it was the same four lines. Maybe it was petty of him to ignore his brother. Itachi wasn't a fighter, he tried to use logic and appeal to people's common sense and morals to get things to go his way. He tried to see both sides of every argument, whereas he himself preferred to get his point across in a blazing ball of emotion (it honestly wasn't his preferred way; rather, it was because he kept everything to himself, bottled up for far too long and in the end, things just exploded and he had no control over it - but that seemed like a bit of a cop out too, didn't it?).

But he still couldn't ignore the fact that his brother had barely done anything to help him. Those few words at dinner, but after that, he still hadn't done anything. He understood it wasn't Itachi's fight, but if their roles were reversed, he would have done everything to make his father back off. Was it unfair of him to feel bitter? He had mouthed off but his father didn't really have a reason to insult him. He wasn't at Itachi's level but he was certainly 'above' most people (though why did Fugaku feel the need to compare everything? He found it exhausting and pointless). He was given everything on a silver platter, much like Fugaku was when he was a child. But of course, Fugaku had done _everything right, _which was why there was nothing to be compared, right? He snorted. People were such arrogant pompous idiots.

. .

Every day that went by without a call made his worry grow stronger. He knew it was stupid; Fugaku was probably regretting hitting Sasuke (though whether that regret was for the right reasons was something to be questioned) and it wouldn't happen again (Sasuke was due for another interview soon and he certainly couldn't do it with a messed up face). Sasuke didn't need to (or didn't want to or wasn't allowed to) leave the house, and nobody was being let in, so there was no need for him to come in. Perhaps someone had seen him see and he was fired? But that seemed kinda dumb - if you knew someone had dirt on your boss, you'd want to keep them closer to you and happy, not make them angry and fire them without a (legally valid) reason so that they'd end up running to the press (because if this mess got out, it'd be splashed over every newspaper in the country within a second and the rumour mill would be in full force). He truly hoped he wasn't fired - it wasn't the best job and it was kinda boring, but the kid was growing on him (he refused to admit he had started to find his pout adorable - he still had some pride despite that his charge always called him "Fish Man").

He honestly hadn't heard any of the conversation anyway. He'd been more focused on finding where the hell he'd left his wallet (he had his wallet on him, but somehow he'd dropped some coupons and he was _hungry_; he certainly wasn't the nicest or most caring guy when he was starving either). The doors were mostly sound proof so all he heard was muffled shouting and the sound of a glass breaking (he'd spent that entire night trying to convince himself if the glass had been smashed on Sasuke's face the sound would have been less 'tinkly' and he certainly would have heard a scream so it _must _have fallen on the floor). Thankfully Kisame had called him (at two am) to say what had happened and to not come in; after that, he worried a little less and actually put the car keys away and was able to get some much needed sleep (like he'd ever admit he was ready to run to the brat's aide; Sasuke wasn't some type of damsel or anything!).

He wondered how long it would be until the smoke cleared. He wondered how close the rest of the family were to the main house - was the gossip already out of control among the usually stony family? Had Mikoto been informed yet? Suigetsu wasn't sure what was worse; Mikoto finding out from either of her sons, her husband, a family member or someone from the press. The brunette had a horrible gut feeling she was going to be like a monster unleashed when the news did come to light. But throughout the long days he spent doing nothing but watching bad dramas and idiotic game shows, he wondered why the family was so fragmented - most families fought over rebellious kids who drunk underage or didn't keep their pants on or didn't do dishes; but this one had everything and more than they ever needed. So where was the glue that was supposed to stick them together and make them function as something loving, caring and supportive of one another?

His own parents were dead after a freak storm had hit their small town. They'd been gone a long time, but he still thought about them and the lessons they'd taught him. He didn't always remembered to put them into practice and he knew, had his mother still been around to harp at him, she would have grabbed him by the year and yelled until the cartilage went blue. But that was okay because it showed she cared and wanted to get her message across (though he still wouldn't have liked it and it probably would have taken a good few yells to get the message to sink in). But he couldn't imagine not existing as a proper family, with some kind of traditional meal on the same day every week and fishing with his dad and brother every morning, getting kicked out of his mother's kitchen for eating too much during the day and just _feeling_ all of their crazy emotions as they grew and learnt to function together.

When he had finally arrived home after the incident between father and son, the first thing he had done was call Mangetsu. His brother was an over protecting idiot, but that carefree relaxed attitude bound them (as did their love for all things related to water and their blood, but that went without saying). He didn't call as much as he should and usually, when he did it was to whine about being kicked out or not have a job or to ask a favour.

He called to chat, to say he was enjoying the work and making sure he annoyed Kisame on a daily basis; his rent was paid in advance and he had no bills he couldn't afford; _no_ he hadn't 'settled down' yet and_ no_ Sasuke wasn't totally unbearable but _yes,_Itachi really was that girly looking in real life.

He knew it confused his brother to no end, but when he ended the call in response to his brother's "later, loser!", he responded with "thank you for everything".

Because wherever would he have been without his family?

. .

He honestly thought he was right. He controlled his own destiny, not his father or anyone else. But after the other night, things seemed different: His family wasn't what he truly thought it had been and his brother hadn't come to his rescue, like he always had promised he would when he was a kid. Perhaps he was lying to himself just as much as everyone else was.

Maybe Suigetsu was right. Maybe he needed to have more fun, enjoy life more. But how the hell was he supposed to do that? He wasn't allowed anywhere without Suigetsu and every now and then his father would offer incentives to his guards to make them blab so Fugaku was sure he was doing the right thing (that was another reason why he hated keeping a guard around for too long; eventually they'd start to go to the man by themselves and his world would become more and more monitored). Even if he was allowed out and Suigetsu covered for him (not that he was planning on getting in trouble, but he was sure Fugaku would tell him 99% of his plans were utter wastes of time, ill-fitting of one who held the name Uchiha) what was he supposed to do? It's not like he could take his crazy cat to the arcade and Obito worked two jobs. He didn't want to do anything with Suigetsu either. Partly it was because they were still only tentative friends and then there was their work relationship which would lead to rumours if people thought them to be 'too close' (he didn't care, people could gossip all they wanted, but he knew his manager and father wouldn't see it in the same light, so it was better to just keep the peace).

Sighing, he rolled over. So far he'd done nothing but mope around in bed (like most days since he didn't want to run into his father as he was too proud to apologise but still too shell shocked - and a tad frightened - to confront him); today was no different. Tv hadn't really caught his interest but he had it softly humming in the background, in case he caught a snippet of something amusing.

_"Uchiha Mikoto has been in the Tohouku region for the last three weeks, helping to rebuild the still shattered region. Not only has she helped the building process, feed those who are homeless and given tired volunteer workers a break, she has given hope to those in shelters throughout the region with a large and generous donation that-"_

The teen was incredibly proud of Mikoto. She had worked hard in her childhood to become famous enough in her own right, famous enough to help her family out. It had been luck she had met Fugaku, but despite their love, she still had to work hard to be accepted into the family (it was hard to say if she was or wasn't; there was certainly many who disapproved due to her not being from a family of their calibre, but she brought goodwill and warmth to their family name, so how could people not at least pretend to love her?). She worked hard now, even when she could be holidaying for the rest of her life. She worked for herself, to improve herself; she worked for her family, to give them strong moral grounds and a stable future; but, more importantly, in his own opinion, she worked for others, so they could possibly, one day, have a shot at a better, more fulfilling and healthy life than what they currently had.

He loved his mother. He truly did. She was the best thing in his life. She cared and cherished him and doted on him, but she was also strict and refused to beleive just because they had money that they should be rude and spoilt (though he didn't always adhere to her lessons, he did take them to heart). He could talk to her about anything and she would give advice without judgement or criticism.

The other day she had called, asking how everyone was. He didn't know if he was the first to be called or if he was going to be the only one. He didn't say anything of value. Just the same line over and over: "Everything's fine, you know?". He hated lying to her, but he didn't want her to hate him or hate her husband either; at the same time, he wanted to go cry to his mother, because where else was he to turn?

But to do that, she needed to be here. And despite everything else she gave him, that was the one thing she didn't seem to be able to do.


	6. Mother's Thoughts

"Are we talking because you've forgiven me, or are we talking to appear as though there's nothing wrong?"  
"Both." Sasuke had always hated how Itachi seemed to read him like open book all the time, you could see it clear as day on the boy's face. He was his younger brother, so of course he was going to understand him better than most.  
"I am-"  
"Just drop it. It's over and done with, so what does it matter?"

It would be better just to drop it, if not just for the reason his younger brother was obviously still nursing the emotional wounds, let alone the physical ones (and anyone who knew Sasuke well enough knew he had a ridiculously long memory and would do whatever it took to get even with someone). There was no doubt it mattered a lot to the boy, and it did to him too (he had _always_ promised Sasuke he would be there for him and protect him whenever the occasion called for it; yet he was a talker, not someone who fought, especially against his elders - though to not protect his own _brother..!_). But he would do as Sasuke asked and give him his privacy and time to rebuild his pride. The issue needed to be sorted, though Itachi was happy enough to forsake it if it meant being on speaking terms with Sasuke again.

"Suigetsu says father might hate Obito because he's gay." Sasuke was horrible at conversations in general (though that seemed to be a family trait; Uchiha's detested small talk after all and it was only thanks to Mikoto they had much of a vocabulary at all) so starting a conversation after when he thought he'd been betrayed was a big deal (though the look on his face made it clear he was uncomfortable about the situation and the whole thing felt awkward to him). He was clearly pulling at straws, but the effort was appreciated nonetheless. Unfortunately, Sasuke had a gift, to name it loosely, of making you say whatever came to mind due to his own spontaneity (or maybe it was just awkwardness) when speaking.

"That's why I haven't told him about Kisame and I." And there went his probably already badly hidden secret.  
"WHAT! You're kidding, right?"  
"Does it disgust you?"  
Rolling his eyes, Sasuke responded as though he was talking to someone who had just said something incredibly stupid. "Unless you give me details, I don't care two hoots either way. But seriously, Fish Man?"  
It was his own turn to roll his eyes. "We're all people Sasuke, despite what we may look like on the outside."  
"Good thing you're gay, otherwise you'd pop out girly looking blue fishes!"  
"Idiot younger brother."

They both snorted at the other, though Itachi knew Sasuke wasn't going to let the conversation drop so quickly. He was a curious child and was already at a university level of study. His insatiable curiosity was never ending; however before today, he had always laughed at people who got stuck answering his brother's constant questions. Today, it seemed to spell his end.

"I don't care you know. But why haven't you said anything? I mean, everyone has always thought you two were always super close anyway, I doubt it'd be much of a shock for anyone. Mama wouldn't care, you know?"  
"Most wouldn't. But if there is a scandal with me, you will inevitably get dragged into it, despite how remote from the situation you are. Additionally, it would bring the family shame and father-"  
"So you're being a coward?"

He wasn't sure if he was glad or annoyed that Kisame came to fetch him at that moment. Work should be able to wait for a moment. He was just getting back in Sasuke's good books and he goes and puts his foot in his mouth and doesn't get to explain himself (if his father hadn't been his father, work would have been able to wait - so perhaps Sasuke was right). Until he did explain himself properly, Sasuke would forever think of him as a coward and that was something he did not want his brother to think (though Sasuke had grown up into a young man now, he still remembered those large adoring eyes that used to be fixated on his every movement). Time had passed, but not so much that those eyes were now filled with disappointment. He still had his chance to prevent that from happening. But could he do it?

"I still don't see why you didn't tell him."  
"Neither do I." It was with a heavy heart and sigh that he sat down in his own room, Kisame sitting on the opposite side of the small cafe-esque table he had placed in front of the window.  
"You honestly can't feel bad Itachi. Sasuke has no idea whats going on so he has no right to-"

"But theres no reason why he shouldn't know. Father says it would make him act even more poorly, but isn't it his right to know his own brother is ill? That he goes to the hospital on a weekly basis and there is a whole room of this mansion dedicated to checking his health? I'm merely following Father's strict and unnecessary rules - that does make me a coward like Sasuke said."

"Perhaps so. If you were to leave here, you could be successful in whatever field you chose Itachi. You don't need your father's charity or bank accounts."  
"That isn't the problem, Kisame. If I anger father to the point where he cuts me off from everything, I will essentially be bared from the family. Just because I do not agree with him does not mean I will make him angry enough to forbid me from seeing my mother and brother."

"If you're happy that way, that's how we'll do it." He could see Kisame was more than unhappy about the approach he had chosen (and Itachi felt just as deflated and defeated as his lover looked), but what other choice was there?

. .

She often wondered who was telling the truth. Fugaku said he raised their kids "strictly and toughly" to make sure they could handle anything and would always be successful. Itachi said his family meant everything to him, but hated how things in the manor were run. Sasuke seemed to alter between hating everything and loving it on a daily basis. But perhaps it wasn't a difference between who was lying and who was not. Maybe she needed to look more into how much of their statements were truth and how much lies. But considering how humans could change stance on things either very quickly or very slowly, Mikoto had the feeling there was no easy approach to figure out exactly how her family felt and how to fix the parts she wasn't happy with.

Midori had informed her about Sasuke. Fugaku said he was in 'some type of minor fall' and Itachi said he wasn't clear on the details. It was probably the only time she'd seen Sasuke outrightly agree with his father (which she would have celebrated on almost any other occasion, but this time it just made her sick to her stomach). At this point in time, the bruising was almost entirely gone, the skin that had formed a lump was almost flat and the cut caused by Fugaku's heavy ring almost healed, so the story was believable. But just because it was believable didn't make her blind or stupid.

Did they think they were protecting her from some deep, dark secret? Mikoto was more than slightly annoyed that nobody had been honest with her (Midori was her niece from her brother's side, so the women treasured each other and the times they got to spend together, especially since it was common knowledge within those close to the Uchiha that Mikoto was kept busy enough not to come to her own family reunions. Midori kept her interests at heart and would never hesitate to tell her something this important, despite how distressed it would cause her to be as this was what she wanted; after all, how could you fix a problem if you did not know it existed?).

Were they embarrassed to admit the truth, possibly scared of her reaction? She was furious at them all. Sasuke knew he could be a brat sometimes and had agreed to try not to unleash his feelings in an outburst. They had an agreement that he was supposed to talk to someone (though apparently there had been friction between he and Itachi recently, and since he wouldn't talk to Fugaku, in some small way, she felt like it was her fault for not being there). Mikoto had told him it was best to write things in a letter; at least then, you had to time to think over things and get your real thoughts out, rather than ranting off a lot of things you probably didn't mean. She understood that it wasn't always something you were able to do - walking out on an angry Fugaku would not have been smart, but that didn't change how Sasuke had been a brat in the past. Itachi had promised to protect him - she knew something was wrong with him (and Fugaku was refusing to tell her) but if it was something large enough that he wouldn't protect his treasured younger brother, she was definitely going to find out the true reason. Fugaku had always been an interesting case and she was never quite sure what lay under his carefully constructed mask, solid as a rock to prevent anything but business getting through. She admired that, but he needed to learn to take that off at home, to be able to actually raise his sons, rather than yell at them and demand they turn out a certain way. If he was keeping things from her as well, then how could their marriage stay strong? Secrets were one thing she hated, especially since the utterance of a few small words could completely shake the foundations of your world at any given time.

She was definitely going to have to think about things if he truly had hit Sasuke (she was almost at the point of running a prayer through her mind every minute, hoping Midori had seen or heard wrong). There had been a ridiculous amount of legal work when they had married, much more than the standard pre-nup, but nothing had been mentioned about their children (at the time they didn't have any, weren't even planning about it, so it was completely unnecessary). But times had changed and the paperwork had not been updated. If she were to leave, go back to her maiden name, that would be a shame for many reasons. Of course her charity work would suffer, as would her family (though they were far more financially secure nowadays than when she was a child). But she was still a singer and a dancer of notable fame; even if it was only a job as a judge on a talent show, she would not be hard pressed to find work (she'd always loved the idea of holding her on talk show, but Fugaku had said there wasn't the market for it - at the time of her mentioning her dream, he was right, but maybe soon she'd be able to tick off that box). The most important thing she would take with her would be her children. She had no doubt they would follow her.

But this was all such gloomy talk! The first thing she needed to do was find out the truth about what had happened from those involved. Then she would find out what was wrong with Itachi and go from there. After all, she wouldn't divorce for one bad act (provided this was the only occurrence; if it wasn't, her and the kids would be packed and gone by the end of the day). It was then a thought struck her; Midori had also mentioned seeing Sasuke's new guard, Suigetsu, that night. There was no harm in having a conversation with him about what had happened was there? Especially since Sasuke apparently liked him enough to not chase him off (for which she was ever so thankful - it was bothersome having to try and remember the new staff whenever Sasuke chased them off so she was glad this one had show some type of promise).

Sending a message to Midori to go fetch the man (who had an eerie amount of similarities to Kisame in her honest opinion), she sat and waited behind her desk, straightening pens to keep her amused. Her office was beautiful and filled with wonderful gadgets (most of which she didn't know how to use) but she honestly wasn't a woman to be kept still - she preferred _doing _things to pushing papers! Mikoto wasn't left waiting long before the man (who she tried to stop laughing at; his stuffy and odd looking suit made him seem old and awkward; in her opinion, it definately needed replacing with board shorts and a surf board!) was standing in front of her, attempting to look cool and calm but was clenching his hands in front of him and sweating bullets.

"You called?"

"Indeed I did. Please, sit." She gestured at one of the old world styled chairs as she spoke (she thought things that had clawed feet were absolutely hilarious though her husband assumed she liked their 'antique charm'). The man (boy? How old was he anyway?) did so, suit almost looking like it was trying to suffocating him. _We must do something about that - after all, we simply cannot have him running around like nobody owns him!_

They sat in silence for a few moments. It was a tad cruel considering how nervous he was, but Mikoto truly wanted to see if he was the type to strike up a conversation first (if he'd been with friends or people his own age, she had no doubt he'd choose this option), or if he was going to wait for the lady of the manor to begin. She watched him like a hawk and he tried to look at everything else but her eyes while he waited. He surveyed the room a few times as she twirled her long hair around two fingers. It was the second his eyes accidentally (she was sure it was accidental because he turned bright red and almost gave himself whiplash as he tried to check out the spacious office room's back corners) lay on her breast that she burst into laughter, light and tinkling.

He realised he'd been caught out and she'd been having some fun. The disgruntled look that replaced his embarrassment was just as hilarious. She stopped laughing suddenly and burst out with, "You look like Tobi!" Apparently Suigetsu knew who he was being compared to because the scowl deepened, sending her into more raucous laughter. It was only fair to be honest, as even Sasuke thought the cat was a rude prick at times and he was the one who had picked him! The cat had always been a cunning little bugger and she honestly believed it had tricked them into adopting it.

It was six hours later (long after Suigetsu's shift should have finished) when the young man finally left her office in order to go home. Mikoto honestly hadn't had that much fun in ages (she would never admit it out aloud, but if she hadn't been married with children, she probably would have flirted with him much more obviously than she had). He was rough around the edges but she could see he was a genuine man. He reminded her of herself when she was first welcomed into the lives of the Uchiha. There was the need to lighten things up, but you knew to survive in this place, that you were the one who had to tone things down in order to not be glared out. He had a good head on his shoulders and seemed to be street smart (which is what she kept telling Fugaku they needed, rather than pompous suits who only knew how to deal with controlled situations). The most important thing was that he cared for Sasuke. Unfortunately, he didn't know anything more than she did about what had happened (he had pieced things together himself much as Midori had) and Sasuke had told him the same story he'd told his mother (which led her to wonder if Fugaku had told him what to say or he had found out his father's version first and decided to copy it).

For now, she would just have to schedule in more times with Sasuke and get Suigetsu to join in; despite the cheeky grin and smart arse comments, underneath it all was a charming core and she honestly couldn't wait to see more of him. If only she had a daughter so he could marry into the family!

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Please review!


	7. Looking Back At Once Upon A Time

Hi guys! After this update, I'll go back to my once a week update. Home Coming will also get four updates to catch up, so don't think I've forgotten.

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_Once upon a time, in the middle of Tokyo, there lived a girl. Her name was Mikoto and she came from a poor family. Despite this, she had a happy outlook on life and took each day as it came, despite the hardships that came along. When she was older, she was accepted into university and was able to study the arts. Soon, she received more scholarships and was able to keep honing her art._

_One day, she met a man. His name was Fugaku and he seemed so awkwardly out of place. Though like a true Uchiha, he took it in stride and made sure he excelled over everyone else. They were from different ends of society, but fate had obviously decided they should be together - that was what all her classmates said at any rate. She couldn't have cared less. She needed someone to dance with and that was who her teachers had chosen. She would do as she was told, ace the exam and that would be that._

_Girls always bugged her about him; after all, she was poor but beautiful, so surely she was trying to weasel her way into his pants and bank accounts? That gave her more of a reason to ignore them and him. After all, he was rude and arrogant, condescending and cocky. Who would want to be on speaking terms with someone who thought his name alone was enough to prove his superiority? What happened to hard work, honesty, loyalty and all those other values? Shouldn't that make people respect you rather than flashy toys, a big bank account and a few mere letters? _

_In rehearsals, he was horrid. Both in regards to his attitude and dancing. Eventually, she slapped him across the face. The red went down after a few days - he didn't come in until it was fully gone, said he was 'sick'. He had the sense to apologise and brought her flowers. She asked him if his dancing had improved while he was sulking. He flushed an ugly puce and she smirked wickedly. Money and power was nice, but there were better ways of earning respect and she wasn't going to fall for the tricks of someone who had been raised to believe he was God's gift. _

_But soon, he showed significant improvement, not only in his dancing, but his personality seemed to be less vile. He still insulted people and mocked them, but on occasion, he would be compassionate and caring. It wasn't enough to make her fall head over heels for him, but it allowed her to see that Fugaku, for whatever reason, was attempting to remove himself from the stigma of his family's unfriendly name. The longer that time passed, the longer they spent together. She had not been raised as a 'lady', who was subordinate to her man and wore the appropriate length skirt and knew how to conduct a tea ceremony in the proper way nor was he a boy from the block who knew how to use his fists when it came to it and bargain at the fishmonger to get the best deal for his family; they were from different worlds and clashed horribly at times, but it was the way things were._

_One day, out of the blue, he told her that was what he admired about her. She was her own person and did what she needed to. She still worked part time and studied and tried to get as many acting jobs as possible. She always spoke her mind and stood up for people. He asked her how he was able to do so. She answered instantly - the truth was the truth and it should come from your heart; there was no need to think about such an obvious answer._

_"Because I love my family. I want to make them proud so I do my best, each and every single day. We're poor, so I work to help out. We're a family so we share the burden. Thats what love is."_

_Perhaps she'd struck a chord within him. Perhaps his parents had ordered him to partake in charity work. Either way, the next time she saw him at the local community centre's free dinner night which she volunteered at monthly, he was helping out people who he usually wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. She was proud of him. Even if it wasn't her doing, seeing one human help another was always a beautiful sight (she refused to say "one person who is in a better position than another" because material things don't matter and it doesn't take much for them to be taken, so why care about them?). _

_Soon, they were dating. She hit him a few times because he still was a bit of a creep (she didn't enjoy hitting him because it just showed that she herself was a bit barbaric and wild, though she did like seeing his ego being knocked down a few pegs). It didn't take him long to figure out what she hated (and what she was likely to hit him over) though it did take a lot longer for him to understand what she liked and more importantly, why (to this day he still didn't know some of the things she cherished; she knew his of course, because she enjoyed talking to people and his obsession with business left him with little time to pursue other interests). They weren't the perfect couple and many said horrible things about her intentions (though really, if they were gossiping about her of all people their own lives must be pretty dull so she let them have at it). _

_He gave her gifts and paid for everything. She met his parents who were obviously none too thrilled at having a commoner date their son, but they could see her talent and obviously took the fact that she had many of the top universities offering her scholarships into consideration. Mikoto certainly wasn't ugly and she had quite the charming and endearing personality, so eventually they accepted the relationship (though mother and daughter in-law would forever be on non-speaking terms due to an argument that neither husband knew the details of, but of course took their own wive's side). Things went well until she asked him to meet her parents._

_He was horrible and rude and an utter bore. It was like he had suddenly reverted back to how he was when they had first met, just over a year ago. Her parents were quite clearly shocked and kept saying things like "If Mikoto is happy, then that's ok". She was mortified. At the end of the night, she hit him and yelled and screamed and cried until a neighbour yelled at her to shut up. She told him she never wanted to see him again and burnt all of the letters he sent her and sold all the gifts she received until he gave up._

_It was a year after that they met again. He had the nerve to act like nothing had happened (she was sweet, but holding a grudge was one thing she was a naturally born master at). It took time for their relationship to heal and honestly, she felt like she should never have bothered. After all, these things always leave scars and once you have a scar, you always remember how you received it. Ever since they supposedly 'made up', there had been a detached awkwardness. _

_It was mostly on her behalf. Fugaku did love her and apologised to her parents profusely (though she could still see the doubt in their eyes). He brought her gifts and tried to act like the way things used to be. They went on a date at least once a week and they called often. He helped her apply for different things so they would be worded in a more corporate manner. She helped him to attempt to be more _Fugaku_ instead of so _Uchiha. _She tried to be a good sport and followed suit - at the very least, if things didn't work out, they could still be friends, right?_

_Once, they'd gone to a party. They'd both ignored their limits and that had ruined them (but at the same time, it had brought them together so she was always torn about how she felt over that night). There was a reason why she now advocated to children the harms of drinking when young. When you were young, you did stupid things. When you were young and drunk, the things you did were even stupider. Sometimes the mistakes were irreversible and lifelong. The mistake her and Fugaku made had them walk down the aisle, buy a mansion and pop out a baby. _

_She had never not loved Itachi and had never not wanted him. There were times when she hated the fact that they were both idiots back then even though their IQs said otherwise. She hated that she never felt as though she could say no to marriage. Her family would have been back where they were years ago, struggling to make ends meet, all because she had to lift her skirt. It wasn't fair to put them back in that position. Besides, maybe she and Fugaku could make things work._

_Luckily, she was right. He was a good, caring father who loved his wife and child, despite the fact he was young and hadn't planned on it. His parents had secretly asked her to leave and take a huge lump sum of money (which she had obviously refused, not only for the fact that she didn't want to look like she'd stolen and bolted, but because she wanted her child to have a father), so she knew his proposal was genuine. Things were starting to properly heal and she couldn't have been happier. _

_As Itachi grew older, it became apparent that funds wise, she had made the right decision. He was often sickly and was quite frail. He just had a terribly weak system so it wasn't even as though he had something that could be cured. It was constant colds and fevers and small problems, such as tonsillitis, one after the other. She did everything she could to ease his pain and Fugaku worked on different business plans so he could work from home (which eventually turned into him not needing to work at all). He had worked not only to give him something to do, but so he could provide for his family for himself, rather than taking money out of the family bank account. They were completely independent from the rest of the family, though Fugaku still kept close ties. _

_She was showing Itachi off to one of her friends one day when she mentioned that there was an advertisement that needed an adorable baby to star in it. She didn't see the harm in it and took him along. He was chosen for the ad and looked adorable; he'd become the apple in Fugaku's eye, but had also become the centre of his plan. _

_He grew and was soon doing things that most his age wouldn't. He was building things and colouring properly and even starting to read by himself, in his head rather than aloud. Soon he followed her to acting jobs and charity parties. Soon he needed Midori to look after him when he did his own acting jobs when she was busy, or when he demanded to go to the library and get more books. That all stopped the minute Sasuke arrived._

_She and Fugaku couldn't have been happier about having another son. Itachi cherished his little brother, though he got snarky whenever someone tried to remove him from his care (more than once Mikoto had to remind the boy that Sasuke was actually her son, not his). Sasuke was also quick to grow mentally, following in Itachi's steps, though not as much. They were adorable and Sasuke followed Itachi to his 'work' and there were a few times when she and Fugaku would be watching tv and would be shocked to see Sasuke had crashed the filming. Eventually, it was decided they might as well do things together; to prevent Itachi from being distracted by his brotherly duty and to prevent Sasuke from literally trying to follow Itachi's foot steps._

_So time went on. Fugaku had brought and sold businesses to his liking, cementing his own name in the business world, separate from the rest of the family's (though he still did work for some of their companies - eventually his father retired and he became the head of family). She was content splitting her time between her charities, her arts and her family. Her boys were happy learning, playing, being in front of the camera and being together. They made her garden together and they cooked together on a weekly basis (Fugaku kept Sasuke amused because he just caused far too much of a ruckus to be safe). They travelled often and went horse riding every weekend, stopping for a picnic lunch before heading home. She made sure there was an even split between time spent indoors and out, studying and working as well as playing. Itachi was still ill on the odd occasion, but that was alright. Even if he were to be ill for the rest of his life, they were a family and would always support each other._

_Perhaps she'd been in a dream the entire time and had only just woken up._

_The boys were wrapped up in each other and she was constantly travelling. Fugaku had been left to rear the children mostly by himself, without someone to talk to (yes he had his family but they weren't really the shoulder to cry on type of people, and her own had always been weary of him). He was too proud to ask for help in any case. Raising two children, let alone two boys, wouldn't have been easy, but her boys had always behaved for her. Had something happened and she had just not seen it? Or had she seen it and thought it was merely a phase, something her husband would soon get over? Was it her fault that he had immersed himself in business and closed himself off? Was it her fault that now her family was falling apart? Was there honestly anything she could have done, or could do now to fix how he felt?_

_Fugaku had always needed reminders on how to 'be human' (she really should stop saying that as that wasn't helping things either; he had trouble holding conversations, trying to understand people. It wasn't that he was a bad person, he just didn't understand people or the proper way to act in normal society). Maybe he had forgotten while she was away? She doubted that (but if not that, what?). But back then, the manor had still been filled with the laughter of her boys; how could he not have smiled and laughed at their innocence? How could he not have seen their hope and happiness? _

_How could she not have seen the ruins her family lived in?_

_The more she thought back, the more she failed to remember. She remembered the good times but not the bad. Had there been anything else she had missed on when travelling? They probably wouldn't remember, it was so long ago. Had her children truly been happy then? Had she missed something? Not done something fundamental as a mother? Or perhaps they were the cause and the problem? Maybe Fugaku hadn't wanted them at all and had become tired of pretending. Maybe they were just horrible stuck up children when she wasn't here._

_She sighed, running a finger around the rim of her tea cup. The tea set (one of many limited edition sets she owned) was another gift from Fugaku. _

_Did he still love her or was he merely stuck in a routine from long ago? (That wasn't fair to say; she knew he loved her - he did more than buy gifts and call her often enough to prove it) She didn't doubt he adored Itachi and was proud of him; he was the perfect prodigal song in his eyes after all. But what of Sasuke? What of the things that mattered, like love and laughter and loyalty and honesty? _

_All she knew for now was that she needed to talk to her family and find out how they all felt. She needed to find out if they still thought of themselves as a family or merely strangers living in the same house. Depending on the answer, she could rebuild and go from there._

_If the answer was the one she feared… she honestly had no idea what she could do. Her heart was already encased in ice at the thought of it. They taught you many a great deal of things throughout the schooling years, but they never once told you how to heal a broken heart or soothe ruffled feathers or fix a bruised ego. They never told you of a worry a parent would go through or the heartache of a broken family. _

_The sad thing was, most people went through some type of rough family situation, yet they could never tell you how to fix it. Sometimes, these problems remained stagnant and unsolved for decades. Sometimes they were unable to be healed. If that happened, dramatic statement or not, she thought that she might actually die._


	8. To Be Normal

I'm pretty sure this is my longest chapter ever - clocking in at just over 5k! Please read, enjoy and review~

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"No way! Why the hell would he like you, stupid billboard brow!"  
"Shut it, Ino-pig! If Sasuke was going to date one of us, he'd pick the one who hadn't slept with half the school!"  
"How dare you!"  
Shikamaru sighed. "How is Sasuke relevant to today's discussion?"  
"He's done a television show with his brother. The advertisement only started yesterday and they're pretty excited about the whole thing."  
"I don't get what the big deal is - he seems a bit weird to me, not to mention the brother complex."  
"DON'T YOU DARE INSULT SASUKE!"

And for the rest of lunch, Sakura and Ino made sure to educate their friends about the wonders of Sasuke and how amazing and gorgeous he was (with a side lesson on how Itachi wasn't too bad either). The rest of their group couldn't have been more glad when the bell rang to get them back to class (though they did try to pacify the girls and say it was just the freezing weather that made them bolt inside, rather than their crazy ranting).

"You must absolutely never tell anyone, all right?"  
"Sure."  
"I mean it!"  
"I know."  
"If I find out you've told-"  
"I get it kid! I'm not going to blab, it's not my business! Honestly…"

He couldn't blame Sasuke for being incredibly defensive. When he was in school he always used to threaten people and make sure they didn't tell his brother or parents he'd been beaten up - it was a pride thing. Kid was obviously still trying to pull himself back together. But he did mean it - he wasn't happy with what had happened, but blabbing to an authority wasn't the right way to deal with Fugaku. Tempers ran high in families (the amount of times he and his brother had beaten each other up was off the charts) so it was possibly a one off that was highly regretted by both parties (though Fugaku should get off his high horse and admit that he stuffed up because belting your kid isn't going to do anything good to them).

"How about we go for a walk, get out of this place for a bit?"  
"And do what?"  
"We could get a coffee or something."  
"Why can't we just drive then?"  
"Because sometimes its nice just to walk because you can. Some people use it as a form of therapy to get away from the crap they can't or won't deal with, or unable to, to give them a little bit of peace in their day." He could see the wheels turning in the boys head, weighing up the pros and cons of a thing as simple as a walk before he finally agreed.

Both Mama and Papa Uchiha were gone and would be that way for a while, but they cleared things with Midori anyway (Suigetsu wondered if the boy even knew they were cousins; doubtful because Fugaku wouldn't want his other relatives knowing the maid was a relative from the other side). They left the house (after Midori ordered them back in to rug up more), Sasuke following Suigetsu's steps quietly and quickly. Despite having lived in the same house all his life, he had no idea what the area was like. Being driven was far different to walking and experiencing everything yourself (and it wasn't purely because of the highly tinted windows of the family cars either). When you were driving, you couldn't duck down alley ways and find niche shops and cafes, you couldn't stop to smell the flowers or people watch properly.

Once they left the majority of Posh-ville behind, the houses started getting smaller and more and more places started to have cats in the windows. Some of the braver ones were tiptoeing their way across the chilly snow which would softly crunch under their feet, making their ears twitch back and forth. Sasuke enjoyed pointing them all out and made small stories for each of them and they stopped many times to pat one of the locals. Suigetsu joked that he should work in a cat cafe, but only received a blank look of confusion in response. He explained it was a cafe that just had a bunch of cats running round and that they were mainly aimed at people who couldn't have cats for some reason or another.

"Let's go then!"  
"What? Hey, no!" He had to grab the boy by the arm (he'd decided to head home and drive apparently, though with this crappy weather he couldn't blame him). "How about we plan for that? There's a nice one in Odaiba apparently, so we'll make a day out  
of it and go to Fuji TV Station and we'll go to Akiba as well, yeah? Get you out of the house for a bit."  
"You mean Akihabara, the place famous for it's ridiculously expensive maid cafes?""That's the one! You don't want to go to a maid cafe anyway, it's kinda cheap looking and desperate. But Akiba is famous for a lot more things, so we'll spend most of the day looking around. Sound good?"  
"Yes!"

With that, they continued on walking. Suigetsu groaned and wished he had duck tape; Mikoto seriously wasn't kidding when she spoke about her son's curiosity triggered motor mouth being an absolute pain. At the same time, he couldn't help but smile. It was small, but it was proof the kid was still a kid and that was a win and a half in his book.

"Hey, Sasuke?"  
The boy seemed a bit disgruntled that he had to stop asking questions in order to answer (Suigetsu had no doubt this was the time when most people told him to shut the hell up). "Yeah?"  
"What do you want most in life?"

It took a while for him to answer. The minutes ticked by but Suigetsu let him think as they kept trudging along in the cold snow. Suigetsu thought back to when they'd first met and how much of a brat he seemed. Nowadays, it seemed more than likely he hadn't asked for the huge amount of things he owned; they'd probably been given to him so nobody had to deal with him. But what did he want that he didn't already have? It wasn't until they'd paid for their coffees, finished them and were half way back to the manor that he got an answer.

"To be normal."

"And just what do you suggest?"  
"I know it seems really dumb and I doubt your husband will go for it-"  
"Get on with it, dear."  
He took a deep breath and he knew he was making it seem far more dramatic than it actually was, but it was also a kind of a big deal because of how the kid had been raised. "School."  
Mikoto blinked at him, "School?"  
He nodded back, eyes closed in what he hoped looked to be a sagely manner, "School."

The older woman leant back in her chair and stared at the ceiling. She was quiet for a moment before she started to speak again. "School would allow him to learn more about the world and actually be able to socialise properly… It could be dangerous, but how often do you see singers actually get attacked? Plus, AKB48 members still went to school, and they're all fine… You're definitely right though, Fugaku will not like the idea at all."

Again he nodded, this time with his eyes open because he didn't fancy spilling his tea all over himself. Once or twice every week he met with Mikoto for tea and biscuits. Sometimes it was more if she was doing something with Sasuke (he was invited to join in, making the boy start to trust and like him more was a bonus, plus she always paid!); sometimes it was less if she went on one of her charity trip things. He honestly was weirded out at first, but she was a pretty chill lady. She always put on proper airs but every now and then she'd slip a dubious comment into conversation; of course, she was the lady of the house and most people were so stuck up that nobody ever thought she was being sarcastic or rude. Whenever he heard her say something, he always had to stop himself from snorting. She knew and always sent a wink or a smile his way. Sasuke had started to pick up on it and was learning a lot of new innuendos because of it. He suspected Itachi was aware of what was happening, but Fugaku, ever the stoic businessman, was more than merely annoyed something was happening right under his nose but could never place it. Of course everybody else said there was nothing happening, because really, there wasn't - they were just having a conversation; it was simply the way they worded things that made the dull topics amusing.

She added another sugar cube to her tea and stirred it, still mumbling and weighing things up. "Sasuke does need to get out more. If he does, he and Fugaku will be less likely to rage at each other as they'll be around each other less, though at the same time, Sasuke may get an attitude at school and become a rebellious brat. Plus, he'd only have a year and a bit of school before he's supposed to graduate, not to mention he's already studying things at a university level…"

"University?! He's sixteen Mikoto!" Apparently she hadn't been expecting that as she almost dropped her own cup and saucer. "No bloody wonder he doesn't resemble a normal sixteen year old in the least!"

She stared at him and for once, her eyes were cold. He wasn't sure if he'd offended her or not (after all, who was he to tell a parent how to raise their kid?) but he wasn't going to back down. Just because Sasuke was some sort of genius didn't mean anything to him. He was still socially stunted in his book. Why not let him run around and be a kid, grow up like a normal person?

"…I completely agree. Sometimes I truly wonder if Fugaku does have our families best interests at heart. I have no doubt he loves me. I have no doubt he idolises and is so very proud of Itachi. But that isn't love. Nor is hitting Sasuke."

Oh. Oh no. This was _not_ what he wanted to discuss. This was territory he didn't want to go into. Marital affairs were for the couple and a therapist, not for a barely turned adult who had never held a relationship down for more than a year.

"But that is neither here nor there. And whether it is or not has nothing to do with you." He didn't bother trying to hide his sigh of relief. Mikoto smiled softly in response, though it was incredibly obvious she was troubled by her thoughts. "Though I am curious. If you were in my position, what would you do? Not just about school, but about everything?"

It was his turn to stop and ponder. By now, his tea had been finished and it was almost time for him to eave the grounds. "To be honest, I don't know… I think it's important to figure out where everyone stands and then plan your next move off that. Fugaku obviously thinks on the business side and its something he enjoys so it'd be wrong to take it away from him, but perhaps you can get him to find a different project to work on, rather than your sons? In regards to school, you might even be able to work it in your favour. It'd certainly get him in the headlines and perhaps you could do a small mini series of him doing a video blog or something? Plus, it'd give his fans a kick and you could have them on the show - the whole getting to meet the idol in real life and the idol being the cool guy next door."

"You're describing a drama there, dear."  
"But it'd be _real_!"  
"Indeed it would…"

Midori came in to collect the cups (though he knew that would take her an hour or so because Mikoto would bounce ideas off her), meaning his time was up. He had no idea whether he'd argued the case well enough or not, but he could, and would, try again if things failed. He had honestly wanted to say there shouldn't be a question. It was their sons happiness - if it took something as simple as sending him to school, why not do it? Money wasn't an issue and he was obviously going to ace every class. Most kids hated the idea and went through it in a dull monotony, but this was going to be a new adventure for him, so why not let him get excited about something that was going to help him in so many ways?

"Sasuke? Can I come in?" Her son opened the door, looking like he'd slept the whole afternoon (though not with pillows as Tobi was currently stretched all over them and what he wasn't hogging was covered in fur and scratch marks as proof of ownership). Said cat opened one eye lazily to glare at her before rolling over, so his back was facing them. Both humans snorted at his rude behaviour - they'd gotten used to the smug attitude throughout the years, but unfortunately Fugaku was allergic to cats (which was why Tobi was only allowed in the one wing of the house and only allowed into the garden via that wing) so they weren't allowed to get another - they had hoped if he'd had a girlfriend or a kitten he could mentor he would have turned out to be a lot nicer. But that was never going to happen so they were stuck with the grouch.

They sat on the bed for a few moments, watching Tobi flick his tail back and forth, incredibly displeased that they were in his domain. "When I was gone, your eye got hurt." Unlike Sasuke, she was an excellent conversation starter. But this was something she was truly worried about and wasn't something easily spoken about. How does one start a conversation to ask if their father, her own husband, hit them during what was probably a petty argument?

"It did."  
"You told me you fell. I've heard otherwise."  
"Father said I fell too and why would he lie?"  
"He would if it was him that did it."  
"…Midori told you."  
"She did. She was incredibly worried."  
"I could have defended myself."  
"I don't doubt that, but that isn't the issue, Sasuke." He shuffled around a bit before dragging a now wide awake cat onto his lap (where it growled its annoyance). He knew he was going to get scratched, but it was his cat, his emotional support so it was going to do as it was damn well told.

"The issue is he's your father and should never have done such a thing, no matter how much of a brat you were being. Do you agree?" She got a nod in a response, so at least he knew he wasn't entirely to blame. "Were you being a brat?" A somewhat longer pause. "Sasuke? I'm not going to yell. I wasn't here and I know I shouldn't spend so much time away from you all; you're all incredibly stubborn and horribly closed off when it comes to emotions. But I can't always be here and you three need to learn to work through your issues. I'm trying to help you all - no I won't tell the others what you've said, much like you won't know what they've said - but I can't help unless you tell me what happened."

The pause continued before she finally got her answer. "I wasn't being a brat, I was angry. It's always 'Itachi this, Itachi that, he's so great' and I honestly don't mind that. Itachi _is_ great. But sometimes, I'd like it to be a bit about Sasuke too, you know? I said something absently, I was lost in thought and must have muttered it out loud and he went mental. He said I always get everything handed to me on a platter, yet of course, Itachi deserves that right? It's a different story completely! Plus, he said I was too attached to you. I told him its because he's a dick-"

"Sasuke."

"-A jerk. He got mad with Itachi for defending me and I yelled at Itachi too. It's the same as what happens all the time. Itachi is better than me and I can't change father's opinion of that or the fact Itachi is just more talented than me in some areas. But he doesn't need to belittle me all the time. He should just be able to accept his sons have different interests and abilities. Or, you know, if he's so concerned with Itachi being amazing, why can't I do what I want and stay out of the spotlight? I just want him to stop pretending we're a happy family in public. If he doesn't like me, fine, but don't keep being hypocritical and giving me whiplash. I love him, he's my father after all. And there was a time that I remember when he wasn't such a jerk. But now, I simply can't respect him at all. Not even as a man because I doubt he has any emotion other than anger now. And I don't think he knows it, but it kills me just as much as it would him if he actually stopped to take the time to look at himself."

Understanding completely, Mikoto could do nothing but nod. She could talk and yell and demand things of Fugaku until she was blue in the face, but nothing was going to change between him and Sasuke unless they worked together, and that was something she wasn't sure was possible.

After their first walk, it had become a weekly routine. Sometimes they only had time for a short walk around the garden. On those instances, Sasuke would try to drag Tobi out and walk him on a lead. The cat generally tried to choke itself (Suigetsu wasn't sure if it was actually trying to kill itself or was genuinely trying to escape the leash as both were entirely plausible) or, if were in a lazier mood, it would simply sit, refusing to move until it had eaten its fill of grass or flowers. The guard was surprised to see that Sasuke knew all the names of the flowers, having helped Midori and his mother plant all of them. He was shocked that Itachi and Fugaku had also helped and the day had actually been a successful one.

During the weeks when there wasn't much in the way of filming or interviews or photo shoots (and more recently, Sasuke recording an album), they walked more than just the once. A few short ones around Posh-ville and a few longer ones. Occasionally they'd take the train and wander through a city, or a forest, or walk the beach or go temple hopping. Sometimes they did the entire lot. Occasionally they were accosted by fans and he actually had to work rather than just enjoy himself. Most of the fans were awed that their idol was actually human and did things normal humans did. Others were of the more over-exuberant variety and needed to be warned to behave more than once (there was always a chauffeur in the area they went, just in case, though that knowledge was kept from Sasuke who honestly thought they were alone - even when he was doing something as simple as a walk, there were secrets involved; no wonder the kid was a wreck!).

Their most recent 'walk' had been the promised one. The day trip to Akiba and Odaiba ("The cat cafe! Finally!", "Yeah yeah, brat."). They were driven to the station where they transferred a few trains before finally getting to Akihabara. The day was still young but already the maids were shoving flyers at people and trying to be adorable (poor things must be freezing in this weather!). Sasuke asked to go to one (for purely innocent reasons, he was sure) but he said no - Fugaku certainly wouldn't have been happy with him if he found out and like he had told Sasuke previously, they were a bit tacky and odd. (He was still confused as to where the kid had found out about them especially as it wasn't something that would often come up in casual conversation - plus, he wasn't the type to spend the day googling, and chasing girls in short skirts didn't seem to be his thing either) Despite his pouty attitude over that, they had a rather good day.

They spent the day winning useless trinkets at the arcades and it turns out Sasuke was a champion at the table flipping game. They won extras of the Vocaloid mobile cleaners they had received from the UFO Catchers and gave them to some unskillful/unlucky pretty girls who blushed and giggled, thanking them profusely. The duo enjoyed lunch at the Good Smile Cafe and trawled the second hand shops for key rings and cds. After that, he called the chauffeur to take all their crap home (Sasuke gave him quite an earful over that one, though in hushed tone as they were on the train by then). It could have been worse and the boy understood it was for his own safety - when they had first met, he had no doubt the raven haired male would have been furious and seethed over the lack of trust for weeks on end.

The afternoon was spent in beach side Odaiba (it was man made, but the expanse of water still made him feel nostalgic for home). First they went to Fuji TV Studios and brought some trinkets of shows that were currently airing. They looked at the sights from the dome at the top before going across the road where the duo found a set of purikura machines relating to Fuji's anime shows. After wasting time and money there, it was off to Palette Town and onto the ferris wheel which Sasuke had never been on before (which Suigetsu thought was stupid considering practically every city in the country had one). Then, to the main event: the cat cafe.

He always acted knowledgable around Sasuke, acting like the world was his backyard. Truth was, he'd only been in Tokyo for two years and the only roaming he'd done was from bar to bar, club to club, job to job and apartment to apartment, ducking into the banks, karaoke bars, post office's and Lawson's in between his destinations. This was the first time he'd been to a cat cafe himself and while he was familiar with the purpose of it, it was different to what he had expected.

The entrance, for one, was surrounded by a giant plastic pink and purple cat, with the door being its mouth so it looked as though it was yawning. Sasuke found it amusing but he honestly found it slightly disconcerting. They brought a drink with their ticket and were granted entry after being explained the rules. For the next hour, their noses were assaulted by drifting fur and the strong smell of urine, even though the place was spotless. Well, about as spotless as a place with twenty or so cats running wild as a place could be. At one point, Sasuke had gotten on the floor to pet a cat sleeping on top of a cage (the one in the cage was not very impressed and kept glaring at the one above him). It wasn't long after that when a small, white cat with way to much energy started doing laps around the rooms, annoying everyone and everything. It had decided Sasuke was part of the landscape and ran up his back, wriggling to nest on his shoulders after attempting to settle on the boys's head. Of course photos had to be taken and considering the little monster didn't move for a good five minutes he had plenty of opportunity to do so.

After their hour was up, Sasuke brought his own monster some treats and the duo finished off the day by walking the Rainbow Bridge. The sun was setting, the day ending slowly but Odaiba was just coming to life. The ferris wheel had lit up with various rainbow patterns that changed every few moments and you could even see the Tokyo Tower shining in the distance, an almost fiery red against the dull lights of the city. It was dark, but not pitch black when they boarded Odaiba's special train line, but he hadn't expected Sasuke to point out a school as they sped back towards their next stop.

"What is school like?"

"I guess it depends. Sometimes teachers are good and sometimes they're pathetic. If you like learning you'd be alright, but if you're too far ahead you'd probably be bored. I spent most of my time in detention for fighting and being a brat." A snort and a smirk for his young charge. Was this honesty good? Did the curiosity mean Mikoto had partially succeeded? "Why do you want to know?"

"Most people have their social circles dictated by who they go to school with. I've never had that. Father has never allowed us to have friends either. Well, not quite like that. He just has really high standards and most people are intimidated by him. But my schedule isn't exactly conducive to having friendships either - thats why I like my blog. I can talk to people at whatever time of day and wherever in the world I am. It's not as personal as being able to talk to someone face to face about everything, but its a start. Father isn't going to change over night and neither am I but we both have to try and start somewhere. I think, if I could go to school, I'd learn a lot. It might not all be good and I might hate it, but I'd like to go. I'd like friends, friends my own age I mean, you and Midori are too old after all-" Back up a minute! Friends? BINGO! He couldn't stop grinning like a loony and Sasuke realised his slip up as he hurriedly continued talking. "And plus, how am I ever supposed to have a relationship relationship if I don't even have successful friendships first?"

"You'll get there kid. It sounds like you and Fugaku are starting to slowly work things out, so I'm sure you can compromise on stuff." Sasuke was quiet for a few moments, starting out at the quickly darkening sky while he kept grinning like mad.  
"You know Kisame and Itachi are together?" The grin fell and he must've looked like a stunned mullet. Laughing, Sasuke explained what he'd been told.

"Kisame has always been attracted to weird things-"  
"My brother isn't weird!"  
"Seriously?"

It was a silly conversation spouted from something semi-serious, but he couldn't help grinning again. He was getting to like this new Sasuke, the one who smiled and laughed on a daily basis rather than only when someone made a fool of themselves. And he couldn't feel any more smug and special because _he_, idiotic Suigetsu, was the one who had done it.

Things were working in his favour, everything going brilliantly, and thats how he knew shit was going to hit the fan, and soon. And that it was probably going to be his fault in some way - that was just the way things worked for him. Previously, he never would have cared. His job and apartment had never been a point of pride for him, but now he was doing something that was not only easy and with great pay, but also made him feel important and like he was making a difference. He wasn't sure how long that was going to last now though. Perhaps he should just stop thinking and saying things altogether. All that talk on scandals a while back and what the hell had happened? Thankfully that mess between father and son was witnessed only by him and he certainly wasn't going to blab (though he would have loved to see Fugaku getting into hot water over that disgusting act - maybe, Sasuke had started to hint he wasn't such a bad guy, or at least hadn't always been so, so maybe they were both starting to learn to be a family). Again, Sasuke was his priority (though he was more than angry that Itachi obviously wasn't thinking the same). But hey, if Fugaku wasn't the devil in disguise, maybe Itachi wasn't such an idiot either. But that issue, while being a scandal, was a family only issue and was apparently in the midst of being sorted.

Unfortunately, this next mess wasn't going to be an easy one to ignore, or even cover up. Sighing as he threw his (lying, gossiping, evil) paper into the bin, he made his way to work with a heavy feeling in his gut. He hoped he got there before the head of family caught wind of this and fired him before he had the chance to defend himself. As much as he wasn't amused by it, at least there would be something interesting for the family to talk about at tomorrow's party other than bullying his charge.

Uchiha Mikoto, known for her charity work and beauty, is now having her entire character reevaluated after a shock scandal shakes the house of Uchiha. It seems the fair and noble lady has found herself a new love interest in a personal staff member. We have a feeling the body guard to her youngest son Sasuke, will now have a lot of explaining to do! Or perhaps it is Mikoto who needs to explain! Read more on page twenty-seven!


	9. Meeting the Uchiha

He wasn't sure if it was good or not that the newspaper article hadn't been mentioned when he reported to work that morning. Then again, everyone seemed to be pretty caught up in the reunion that was happening and probably hadn't even read the paper (though he did find it hard to believe that someone hadn't informed them - surely reporting such a thing would be seen as helpful and garner favour?). With that being the case, he wasn't sure whether to announce the rumour himself (and if he did, to who and in what way? Fugaku surely wouldn't take it well..) or to leave it lie and either pretend he had no idea or to admit he knew but didn't think it was important because it was garbage. None of the options seemed to brilliant (especially with everyone already running on high tension) so he decided to let it be for now and bring it up tomorrow, when everyone was back to not having crazy, stuck-up relatives on the mind.

The day went by relatively peacefully. It was the week before Christmas, but there hadn't been much in the way of snow until last night. Depending on how the day went, the event would either take place inside a large room filled with fire places and lounges or outside among the rose garden (which wasn't looking as nice as it usually did thanks to the snow weighing the flowers down). Staff were busy cleaning and cooking, so all he had to do was stay with Sasuke who stayed in his room as Midori was prone to asking him for help which he would normally agree to; however, tonight it meant he was downstairs and waiting when the relatives arrived and he'd rather stay away for as long as was socially acceptable. They spent the time playing Mario Kart and filling each other in on their lives (Suigetsu had been ecstatic when Sasuke had said he wasn't going to attempt to get him fired so they'd decided they might as well get to know each other).

His life wasn't particularly interesting. He went to school, got into fights, had detentions, struggled with grades and was a general terror like most kids his age. His parents had died in a horrible storm, but being from a seaside village, that happened now and again - it was just a part of their lifestyle, as tragic and horrid as it was; it was the circle of life and you needed to accept it. Sasuke was filled in on his terrible choices in girlfriends (and that one time he had thought he was about to shack up with a lady who actually turned out to be a lad) and about Mangetsu who the raven haired teen had decided he wanted to meet (he's responded with a casual "sure" at the time, but he knew it wouldn't happen; Mangetsu hated the city and Sasuke wouldn't be allowed to go too far from home; plus, Mangetsu was probably crazier than himself, so there was another no-go zone).

In return, Sasuke told him about the times when Fugaku was a father, rather than just the head of family. He used to take them on holidays every few months to various places around Japan (he laughed a lot as he re-told stories from when he failed to ski in the north and Itachi had flat out sucked at surfing in the south). Fugaku used to bring Mikoto gifts every week and they'd play board games and have silly parties with just the four of them just for fun when there was nothing else to do. He'd made some bumbling mistakes on set which left Suigetsu in stitches (leading the boy to attempt to pummel him with the pillow while Tobi glared as their happiness was far too loud for him).

Eventually it was late afternoon and time to get ready. Not long after, guests started arriving. Sasuke was taking his time preening (he'd given up on getting the boy to hurry up after he told him people were here for the third time) so he spent his time waiting watching those people. He could tell at a glance nobody from Mikoto's family was there as all the guests so far were snobs in a breed of their own; he wasn't sure if it was the super expensive cars, the fur coats, monocles or noses held high that did it. Eventually, an old car (from the time when cars were just beginning to be produced) arrived and everyone seemed to stop and stare with baited breath as though a celebrity was about to bestow their presence upon them. Sasuke had finally emerged so he was able to ask about the spectacle.

"Who the hell is in that car?"

Sasuke pursed his lips, but he couldn't tell if it was because he didn't like the person or for some other reason. "That's Madara. He isn't the founder of the Clan obviously, though he might as well be with the way everyone acts around him, but he is named after the person who was. He's more than merely intelligent and was a great soldier years ago. He's received numerous awards and accolades for various reasons and is a person you don't want to cross. On the other hand, gaining his approval will open numerous doors for you. Don't speak to him though; its a general rule that even among us, he is the one who dictates things."

"Why the hell did you invite him then?"

"Because he's Madara. If we don't, it'd cause a scandal, even out in the public. _He _doesn't have to do anything to make our lives hell."

Sort of understanding, but not really because the Uchiha family was just _weird_ and complex, he made a small noise in agreement. "He looks ancient."

"He was young and active at the same time the dinosaurs were around."

Glancing sidelong at his charge, he saw the raven haired boy smirking. When their gazes met, they both burst out into raucous laughter before slowly making their way downstairs to join the party.

In all honesty, Suigetsu had no idea why he was here. If it was only family, why the need for a guard? He was told he didn't need to stand right by Sasuke, so long as he was in the immediate vicinity (which was out in the gardens as the snow had thankfully eased off). The end result had him bored stiff, leaning on a wall, watching as Sasuke had his cheeks pinched by some of the friendlier aunts and old women who still insisted on tottering around in high heels and were dwarfed by their fur coats.

Itachi was more than just rugged up himself (Suigetsu thought he was ill again but Kisame had told him to butt out when he had asked so he was wondering if something deeper was happening). He was talking to some older men and a stern looking woman with glasses, but even from here, he could see the conversation was droll and was probably about something that was far over his head. Fugaku and Mikoto were making sure they greeted everyone and spent a few moments with them, occasionally returning to people for another conversation (Mikoto rolled her eyes at him once and he couldn't help but laugh).

"You're Suigetsu, aren't you?" A man, perhaps a little older than him had approached him (considering his laughter a moment ago, most had left his area with worried glances, so he was slightly shocked). He was short with black hair and eyes signature to the Uchiha family though had a smiling face, something he wasn't used to seeing in the guests present. "I'm Uchiha Obito, it's nice to meet you."

"Oh! The famed Obito huh?"

"Famed? I hope it's for the right things!"

So began a small friendship. Sasuke had filled him in on the basics about the man after he explained about he and Fugaku's disagreement. Apparently this was where Obito lurked every time the reunion was held; from here, you could see everything else happening, but it was slightly obstructed, so not everyone could see in. Generally, as these reunions were held just before Christmas, or in the sweltering heat of summer, this was not the ideal place as it always seemed to attract the worst of the weather (the wind was blowing through here like nobody's business tonight). Obito seemed nice enough, though Suigetsu didn't doubt that charming boyish personality could mask a cunning mind - after all, a lion was still a lion even if was raised away from the pride.

"How's Sasuke doing?"

"He's well enough." How much did Obito know about the inner happenings of the house? Were he and Sasuke good friends? Was he allowed to say certain things on behalf of his charge, or would that send him in to full blown pout mode?

"Well enough as in barely making it through because of the pressure Fugaku puts on him, or well enough because he's actually happy?" Well, that answered his first question.

"He and Fugaku have talked a bit. It's not perfect, but Sasuke at least is attempting to sort things out; I'm assuming Fugaku's doing the same."

"Itachi said Mikoto had spoken to everyone." He merely nodded in response to that. A few moments passed before Obito seemed to read his mind (though in a much delayed fashion) or perhaps he just liked to talk for the sake of talking.

"Technically, you shouldn't need to be here. But a few years ago, there was an incident where a guard of another relative, who has since been incredibly embarrassed and practically disowned, collected gossip and published it. Well, he was going to, had accepted the money for the information and everything, but Fugaku slammed his fist down hard and the media was cowed. I believe he's finding it incredibly difficult to get a job now, despite all of his qualifications…"

"So I'm here to protect the family from the protector's of the family?"

"Pretty much!"

"That seems really weird and fishy."

"That's nothing compared to when my grandmother's guard tried to kidnap her and her daughter was in on it. Her daughter then proceeded to try and steal from the main house. There was another incident, a good few decades ago, which started off the reason why mostly everyone has guards, that occurred at a gathering like this. Everything was peaceful until there was some type of fight between different parts of the family; apparently there were guns involved but old people have terrible memories and like to distort tales to make them more interesting, so I'm not sure how true that last bit is."

"…You Uchiha's are really something, aren't you?"

Obito roared with laughter, despite how dry the comment had been. Though he could see more and more that the man was an ally, and not a typical member of the family. Eventually, after the laughter died down, the duo fell into a comfortable silence. By now, night had truly fallen and they could hear the soft murmur of conversation mixed in with high laughter and the tinkling sound of cutlery. The temperature had started to drop, so coats had been retrieved from those who had taken them off and some of the older guests were beginning to take their leave. The other man smiled, taking this as a time where he was allowed to go and not be considered rude and held out a business card. "I live in Ikebukuro now. If Sasuke ever needs a place to chill out for a bit, tell him to come over. My door is always open."

He accepted the piece of paper with a smile. "I'll definitely pass this on."

"One last thing before I bail. Keep looking after him, all right? He acts like his father on the outside, but he's a soft little marshmallow on the inside."

His grin became wider and he laughed. "Got it."

"Don't forget to tell him I said hi as well, yeah?" A nod from him and the other smiled brightly. "Alright, later then!"

"Bye Obito."

With that, the man left, weaving through people before heading back inside. He wondered if that would be Sasuke in a few years, barely seeing his family and when he did, wanting to leave as soon as he arrived, merely talking to people for politeness, even though they didn't give the same respect. There was something to be said about escaping family, especially those who treated you poorly, but there was something lonely about it too. Family were the ones who were supposed to hold you up, even in the darkest of times so to want to leave them so purposefully… it was somewhat tragic.

Again he vowed to protect Sasuke from that type of hurt. Again he decided to make a surprise call to his brother.

"Where is my son?"

"He's gone to the bathroom and will be back shortly sir."

"Shouldn't you have followed then?"

"Yes sir, sorry sir." While Fugaku didn't seem pleased with the answer, he accepted it despite how unbelievable it was, shaking it off as unimportant. Suigetsu gave a polite bow, not too deep because he just didn't like the man, and waited until he heard Fugaku's footsteps leave. With his departure, Suigetsu sighed, meandering slowly up to Sasuke's room. When he finally arrived he knocked loudly before entering.

"What?" Well, thats what he thought he heard, considering the teen's head was under a pillow which was in turn being sat on by a very fat cat.

"Oi, your father wants you."

"And?"

"You tell me."

"I'm sick."

"With what?"

"I don't know. Just say I'm vomiting or something."

"You suck at this, you know?"

Assuming the grunt was the best response he was going to get, Suigetsu made his way back down the stairs. Though to find Fugaku, he had to weave through the numerous guests (he'd thought half of these people had left already?) which turned out to be not so brilliant.

"Isn't that him?"

"Sasuke's new guard?"

"How horrible!"

"The nerve of people these days."

"It's commoners, I tell you. You'd never see Fugaku doing the same, not with how well bred he is."

"I'd expect nothing less from Mikoto. It was only a matter of time before she showed her true colours."

_Oh shit. They knew. _Damn it all to hell! If the Uchiha's were gossiping amongst themselves (and very loudly at that), did that mean Fugaku and Mikoto already knew? Is that why Fugaku had ignored his lie earlier? He was just waiting for the chance to fire him without causing a scene? Damn it!

He ignored the pointed stares and mutterings that were getting louder and ruder and kept walking forward. Fugaku was surrounded by people (who also stared and smirked - apparently nobody had told Fugaku yet; he had no idea whether to thank the gods for that or not) but summoned him over. They excused themselves, finding a slightly quieter place to talk.

"This had better be important."

"Sasuke is unwell and is not able to rejoin the party, sir."

"Hmph." Why couldn't Uchiha's give clear signals? Every day he was wondering if he was allowed to leave or not because their grunts and silences were as unhelpful as hell. "Tell him if he is not better by the morning we will have the family doctor come see him." He bowed and turned, already on his way back when Fugaku spoke again. "Also tell him that he better be telling the truth lest he suffer the consequences."

He stiffened his shoulders and counted to ten, calming himself down while Fugaku returned to his group. How on earth did Sasuke live with someone that up himself day in and day out? It was a testament to the family, really. Even his own brother, who had to fight to keep them together and to survive, wasn't as controlling and rude as that man!

Still seething, he attempted to return while ignoring the not so quiet whispers when Midori suddenly grabbed him. "Quickly now!" Following her along as quickly as he could, still attempting to ignore the talk ("_Another_ woman? How disgusting!"), they made it inside. From there he was guided into a side room ("Good luck!" He never got to ask Midori why she would say such a thing before she shoved him in), which, despite the fact it had a roaring fire, filling the room with warmth, felt dark and cold.

"Step closer, child." Child? Who the hell did this guy think he was? Stepping forward quickly (wanting to speak his mind but realising it was not best to do so because a) this was a total stranger and b) with the rumours floating around he could get himself in a lot of trouble, so he kept his big mouth shut). With a sickly sweet voice, he asked, "How can I help tonight, sir?" When he stood in front of the man, he felt a small wave of fear flow through him. _Oh_. Of course he would be considered a child to someone as old as Madara.

The man was pale and wrinkled worst than most of his shirts. His hair was long and black, typical of his family's men. However, it was slowly fading to grey and wasn't as tidy as it should have been. He was in a suit that made his age even more pronounced, as did the cane at his side. He wasn't wearing glasses as his eyes seemed to be the only things that worked properly; they focussed on him and the gaze sharpened considerably, leading him to straighten and tense.

"Sit." Suigetsu did so without a second thought. The man, though odd and creepy looking with such soulless eyes, seemed to give off a powerful aura despite the frail body he possessed. "There is a lot of talk about what the media has reported child. Is it true?" A vigorous shake of his head and a firm (though nervous) "No sir!" was his answer. Madara scrutinised him for a while longer before closing his eyes and laying his head back. "If that is so, you need not fear the time ahead. Do not mention this meeting to Fugaku; if you are to stay hear, you will need to learn to fight your own battles. Additionally, tell Sasuke to behave himself-"

"He already is, sir." Madara's guards, dressed in crisp black suits, had been as still and silent as statues from the moment he entered. Now though, they had moved from the back of the room to flank either side of him, even though no order had been given and no danger was present. Oh, so they didn't like people talking back, did they? Well too bad - he was sick of Uchihas acting like they knew everything, especially when it concerned their family, when they knew but a small ounce of common knowledge. The man opened his eyes again, those void-like eyes staring at him once more.

"Is that so..?"

"He has done nothing but be a wonderful member of this family and a strong role model to others his own age. He isn't perfect but he's probably the most human person in this god forsaken family of yours." The guards both started to vocalise their horror at the injustice of his statement. He didn't care - the Uchiha's were barmy, the whole bloody lot of them. He didn't want to get fired but he wasn't a mouse either! He was more than indignant on Sasuke's behalf - why did people constantly think he was a brat? Yes, he did too, but with all the news about child stars being spoilt rotten before they eventually go off the rails, how was he to know different? Was someone constantly making false comments about him to the rest of the family or did they just assume because they were never going to change from their obnoxious selves that Sasuke was never going to stop being a brat at the same time?

"Enough." All sound in the room ceased. "Your dedication and devotion is admirable, though I advise you to be very careful of what words you speak and to whom. You never know what may happen to you, boy. You are dismissed."

Practically shoved out of the room by the henchmen (which he now suspected as elitist Uchiha due to their hair colour and fair skin as well as the vague angry threats they muttered), he made his way up the stair case once more to tell Sasuke of his father's words. He didn't say he'd spoken with Madara, just that the message had been passed on from him. To both messages he frowned. A short discussion of the week ahead followed before he was dismissed for the evening.

He'd never been so glad to go home.


	10. The Drama Begins

Please review!

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"I admire you, Sasuke."

His brother was genuinely surprised by those words. "Why?"

"It may get you into trouble but you live the way you want. You're determined and independent and try to make your own path, rather than follow the strict one set out for you."

"Why should I live in a way thats dictated for me? It's my life so as long as I'm not harming anyone, I should be able to live the way I want."

He sighed. His brother was right, but he wasn't picking up on the various hints he'd been making to try and keep his nose to himself a bit more, at least until he and father could completely see eye to eye. To live as freely as you could was brave in his honest opinion. He had the same opportunities that Sasuke did, even more than his brother if he were honest, but he didn't take them because he was a coward. He knew he didn't need the family name to get places in life. He didn't need the bank account either - with his smarts and talents, he wouldn't even need to work to have money flowing in without worry. Even if Fugaku disowned him (well, as much as he was likely to do - his father wouldn't want to make it a public matter or bring dishonour to the family so first he'd try and compromise) his mother and brother would surely follow so he had no need to worry about not seeing his family again.

He'd made excuses to both his brother and lover, but neither of them were buying the lies anymore. They both knew he was spineless and would do as he was told without trying to do things himself. It irritated them, but what they didn't see was that it irritated himself. He didn't want to be in the spotlight every day nor did he want to work for one of the various companies owned by the family - getting a job because of being family was like getting 100% on a test you cheated on.

All he wanted to do was take things slow and enjoy things. He wanted to spend time with his family and protect them from any harm that may come their way. He'd told Sasuke this before, numerous times. He was the older brother, the one Sasuke was supposed to rely upon and come to whenever he needed help, no matter what the problem was. But since the incident with Fugaku, Sasuke looked at him in a different light. There wasn't any trust in that gaze and when the boy agreed with him, the words lacked any belief.

Sasuke had muttered (when he thought he wasn't able to hear) there was nothing stopping him from living as he pleased, nothing stopping from him from protecting the family or standing up against Fugaku. Itachi hadn't deemed his brother with a response. Perhaps he was right. But honestly, he didn't think he could do it, no matter who much he desired to. He was not a fighter and even if wanted to be, actually attempted it, his body was just too frail - he would have been absolutely useless. It was the thing he hated about himself the most. He wanted to protect his family and tell Fugaku he hated show business and hated most of his ideas. He was just a weak coward, through and through.

All he wanted in life was for his family to get along; but he doubted that would happen while he meekly followed everything he was told to do without question or disagreement.

Usually, Kisame didn't talk to Sasuke. With his height, pointy teeth and rough attitude, he wasn't exactly someone who kids ran too and he wasn't too keen on the little snots himself. Sasuke wasn't always a brat (though he always was a sarcastic little runt), but if you annoyed him enough, he'd do his best to make your life hell. When he'd first started working for the Uchiha family, the boy had been incredibly jealous. Back then, Sasuke was twelve and Itachi was five years older. Up until then, both boys had never had real guards as they'd always either been entrusted to family or Midori which he thought odd until he found out that she was highly skilled in various martial arts (with a tiny stick figure like that, she wouldn't do much damage to someone like him but he had no reason to doubt what he'd been told). Itachi was considered old enough to look after both himself and Sasuke; if not, most often than not, Fugaku and Mikoto weren't too far away if a problem arose, so there were never any hassles.

Up until then, Sasuke had never had anyone encroach on his time with his brother. Up until then, they were a duo, never to be separated. Up until then, he'd never had anyone to fight for attention with. Up until then, he was always perfectly well behaved, eyes only ever focussed on his older brother and every fibre of his being attempted to mimic Itachi.

Once Kisame came along, however, all hell broke loose.

He was always either following along, being rude and demanding or his parents had to try and amuse him with something else so Kisame could actually concentrate on his job. That was why Sasuke ended up with his own guard - not merely for protection, but so the boy wouldn't be bothering his brother and guard so much. He could understand the boy was shocked and hurt - after all, nobody had expected polite, daddy's boy Itachi to get along so well with rough and crude Kisame, so much so they he actually spent less time with his beloved younger brother. At the same time, Kisame couldn't care less - they were brothers and were always going to have each other; if Sasuke couldn't see that then that was his own problem. Besides, just because Itachi had a friend didn't mean Sasuke couldn't find one too. For Itachi, the fact simply was, and always would remain, that family came first.

Eventually, Sasuke had grown to accept him. They still didn't particularly like each other (Sasuke was still annoyed with another getting his brother's attention and Kisame hated the way Sasuke failed to look beneath the underneath) but they co-existed in a mostly peaceful way. When the rest of the family were not present, they either ignored each other completely or spoke only in insults and snide remarks; when the others were present, they were civil, but mostly silent towards each other, speaking only when necessary. However this time, in his opinion, the brat had gone too far.

How dare he criticise his brother for his behaviour? How dare he act like God and demand Itachi always protect him? How dare he get angry when Itachi doesn't protect him from his own idiotic behaviour? Not all of the blame lay on Sasuke; he wasn't to know Itachi was sick (why the boy hadn't been told he had no idea but it wasn't his job to mouth off and change the way the family behaved), though he suspected even if Fugaku told his youngest son the situation, the boy wouldn't change his opinion of how his older brother should act.

But what could he do? Fugaku had forbidden anyone from talking about Itachi's illness - even Mikoto didn't know, which he had to admit was an achievement as she could sniff out secrets in an instant. He couldn't rant and rave at the boy as that would send warning signals into his head that there was a secret and Sasuke would no doubt find a way to figure out just what is was even faster than his mother (he wouldn't mind betting that his idiotic partner in crime would be more than eager to help out). He wasn't often one to be melancholy, but until Fugaku stopped being as controlling as he was (which was slowly starting to happen) and Itachi started controlling his own life, there wasn't much he could do in bridging the family back together.

"Listen brat-"

"Kisame, I'll deal with him."

"Itachi-"

"Your work for the day is finished, isn't it? There isn't any need for you to stay any longer."

Perhaps they'd been in a fight? Why else would Itachi send a very annoyed and somewhat hurt looking Kisame away, especially when he wasn't really supposed to? Such cold and impersonal language, too. To be honest, Suigetsu didn't really care what their problem was - that was for them to sort out - but if Itachi was going to take the time to hunt him down in the fancy pants hotel they were staying in while the brothers were filming and promoting, being constantly stalked and harassed by the press, to risk causing a scene, he'd listen.

He watched as Kisame's back eventually disappeared down the other end of the hall - no doubt he was returning to the Uchiha's penthouse suite (though if he'd just been told by his lover, he'd personally head downstairs to the bar). Itachi watched too; his eyes held an emotion he couldn't quite place, but thought it was somewhere between sorrow and regret. In seeing that, he had the feeling that the discussion they were about to have, while it was probably important, didn't need to be secret. Itachi would tell Kisame about the conversation later, but for now, it needed just to be the two of them, so they could talk in peace, without any interference.

"Well?"

"With the amount of press following us, I'll keep this short. Simply put, do not anger my father."

"Excuse me?"

"You haven't done anything wrong, I am not trying to falsely blame you for anything. Lately, Father has been upset of some of the things Sasuke has said and ways he has been acting - things he has attributed to your influence. However, some of your comments and behaviour displease father and you are the first friend Sasuke has ever truly had - it would be a shame that you were to get fired for being yourself." Itachi went on but he zoned out. Was this guy for real? Hadn't he wanted to help his brother? Didn't he want to fix his family? How the hell was anyone supposed to fix the mess they were in if they kept tip-toeing around Fugaku? Deciding to say as much, he interrupted.

"So basically, you're telling me that I'm what your father considers trash and I should act completely different so as to not piss daddy off?" Itachi tried to speak, but he ignored the attempt. "That's bullshit Itachi and you know it. The only way you guys are gonna play happy families again is if you're honest with each other - getting everyone to act like mice isn't going to do shit all. Get your act together. You're priority is supposed to be your family, your brother. It's your job to protect him supposedly. Obviously, you just want to run like a coward so I'll do your job for you - don't interfere unless you want your relationship with Kisame used against you. We're done here."

Leaving a very stunned Itachi behind, he went to see Sasuke (once Kisame saw Itachi wasn't with him, he paled and bolted out of the lounge like the hounds of hell were after him). They talked and spent the night as they would with any other night. Sasuke was happily unaware of anything that happened; Suigetsu didn't mention the discussion or even meeting Itachi. He knew Sasuke would see through his brother's protective advice and see the cowardice below it (maybe it was wrong to keep saying that - he just wasn't a fighter after all, that didn't make him a chicken). If Itachi was allowed to keep his secrets, then why couldn't he?


	11. Secrets

_For a while, he'd been thinking. Well, if he were honest, he had been thinking a lot longer than just a mere while. As the only son of an extremely well known family, he had been raised with everything given to him. He wanted for nothing and had the best education, in whatever field he desired. Of course, he was supposed to become head of the family one day; with that, came running the family businesses (buying other businesses or absorbing them into their own was also highly accepted). As such, families within their elite circle practically through their daughters at him. Most had been raised in a similar way to him; old fashioned and hard willed, the sacrifice of one was needed for the safety of the rest of the family. In this day and age, there wasn't much of a threat to any family, so it was more the net worth of a family they were protecting. Girls were auctioned off like live stock and new bonds and alliances would grow between families (or in some cases, when those of his own family were disowned or disgraced themselves by marrying someone in a league far below them, bridges were burned and relationships cut). If he hadn't been the only one in line to become the next family head, he would have been disowned as well. _

_Though perhaps he wouldn't have. Mikoto was very stubborn after all and if she ever saw an injustice, even if it wasn't her place, she always interfered and tried to rectify the situation. But that was neither here nor there. The point was, because of her, he broke the rules of being Uchiha. He followed through on an idiotic bet and ended up in a ballet class, ended up with _her _as his partner. She made him see - not just "the bigger picture" of how the world should be, but the small things too. She made him take time out to look at the flowers and understand people a bit more; she didn't want him to change the world or even himself, she just wanted him to be a bit more accepting of the things that were different._

_He didn't always get what she meant and she hit him a few times for his attitude (most of the time, they didn't hurt, though if he acted like it did, she'd bake for him, so he always put on an act). Their time together was rough but eventually they started to patch things up. When she fell pregnant, he knew his parents tried to make a deal with her; he'd never been so glad for a business transaction not to succeed. Soon after Itachi came Sasuke, and they couldn't have been happier. _

_He knew now Mikoto was terrified - when had they gone wrong? When had their family slowly disintegrated? He had about as much clue as she did, though he believed most of the fault lay with him. Mikoto allowed him to see things normally, rather than just the way an Uchiha should. Their household was filled with laughter and music and they were such a close family. But somewhere along the line, he had reverted back to his old ways; of thinking in things in business terms and silently trying to deconstruct the motives people must have. _

_It was something he hadn't done in a long time and when he had been 'normal', they had been much happier together. Why had he reverted though? Was it just that you couldn't ever escape the way you were raised, or had he just stopped caring and trying? He knew he had never stopped caring about Mikoto; as corny as it sounded, she was his angel and had shown him so much. But she couldn't do everything for him, couldn't monitor his thoughts or be there twenty four seven to make sure he stayed to the path he had chosen. Things like that were up for him to decide; he ran his own life and chose his own path; his pride was at stake, after all, so the choices he made were for him to take the credit (or the fall, as would be more accurate). _

_And so, the choice he had now locked himself into was to separate business and family. With a choice like this, his pride meant little; after all, if he failed (or worse, failed _and _make things worse), he could lose his family. That alone would kill him, and he knew without a doubt that he would become a much colder soul than he was when Mikoto saved him._

_. ._

She'd made numerous calls and had been searching family records for hours on a daily basis. She had Midori doing the same thing back at the manor. Something was there but she just couldn't see what. It wasn't until Midori accidentally fell and stumbled into a life size painting that they found their answer. The painting was of Fugaku's mother and it had been placed at the other end of the manor because she had no desire to see the woman more than necessary and certainly didn't want an ugly as sin painting staring down at her. (Un)fortunately, depending on how you looked at it, Midori had ripped it when she fell. When she removed it off the wall to have it sent for repairs, she found a door. Being curious, she opened it and followed the path that was hidden behind it.

Bingo. A room full of whirring machines and fridges of medication. File cabinets exploding with charts and data. Print outs of test results and x-rays and so much more. Mikoto wasn't ready to let Fugaku and Itachi that she knew their secret (the fact they'd kept her own son's illness from her made her blood boil, but she tried to act as normal as possible). When she wasn't busy, she spent her time on the phone and wrote down the most important of the information as well as extra tidbits that now made sense to both her and Midori.

However, one day when she tried to call her relative, the phone kept ringing and ringing and ringing before eventually going to her message bank. Leaving a message, she decided to call back later. When she did, the same thing happened. This went on for two days - at that point, she was worried sick and extremely tempted to make Fugaku tell her the truth and figure out what had happened. Thankfully, Midori called her bright and early the next morning. Apparently security knew about the hidden room and weren't impressed that someone had found out. She hadn't been physically hurt, but she was mentally shaken. The guards still didn't believe her when she said Mikoto knew and had called Fugaku. He'd told them to let her go and try and get her to be quiet - obviously it was too late.

By now, Fugaku knew she knew. Itachi knew she knew. She knew Sasuke knew nothing. But she also knew that this wasn't the right time. The press was following them closely and she didn't know any of the staff at any of the hotels they stayed in - this was a matter that she would resolve at home, once she knew the full facts. If they were going to be a family, they were going to have to stop keeping secrets, especially about important things that could devastate them if they were found out in the wrong way or from the wrong people.

For now, she would watch Itachi refuse to meet her gaze, averting his eyes guiltily and watch Fugaku attempt to pacify her and convince himself he did the right thing. For now, she would try and soothe her own rising anger and treat them as she normally would. For now, she would pretend nothing had happened and curse her own need to know everyone's business and simply wish for a simpler time.

. .

Time seemed to go far slower than normal. Suigetsu didn't strike him as the person to hold grudges or make enemies, but the look his guard was receiving from both his brother and Kisame… He wasn't stupid, he knew something had happened - apart from the fact it was obvious, Kisame was grumbling nonsense when they'd met for breakfast and the older duo had alternated between glaring at his guard and staring furiously out the window as they made the long drive home. If it was serious, surely he would have been informed? Suigetsu did like to have the upper hand and mock people occasionally, so surely he would like to gloat about this (that was assuming he was the 'winner' in whatever had happened).

While he was curious, it wasn't eating away at him. They were adults and would sort their own problems out. Itachi wasn't used to having people say no, so he was probably just having a bit of a pout over something trivial (meaning that Kisame had to defend the attitude and agree with Itachi about how horrible Suigetsu was being). The air around the three of them was tense, so it was bugging him a bit, but he'd let it slide; if they didn't sort themselves out, he could always join and cause some ruckus, something he hadn't done in far too long. (Though it was more than likely his parents would interfere and sort things out professionally and properly - boring! He wanted to see Kisame and Suigetsu fight!)

But for now, he had something much more important on his mind. Currently, Sasuke was trying to compile a list of arguments to use against his father. They hadn't had a huge amount of success with repairing the bridges they'd destroyed, but they were slowly coming together. Before, when he wanted something, he'd either have it given to him instantly or have to yell and scream and fight for it. This time he'd try compromising. Or something.

All he wanted was to go to school. If it failed, well then so be it. But as far as he was concerned, there wasn't really a valid reason why he couldn't at least _try_ it. He was smart, so wouldn't fail; they were rich, so he wasn't asking for something impossible; he could socialise and make friends and generate positive publicity. The only things he could think of that his father could retort with was his work schedule - but surely things could be moved around? They'd altered plans before, though that had been when Itachi fell ill. It wasn't the same situation and it wasn't the same beloved son (though if Fugaku was trying, he shouldn't see them differently anymore - even if he did, he wasn't supposed to act upon it).

He ignored the glaring three who surrounded him and pulled out a notebook and pen. In high school, you had to write persuasive essays and speeches, right? He might as well get started then.

* * *

Just a note that I may stop posting here: allowing anon comments can be risky and if I can't disable that option, I don't really want to be left open to children who have nothing better to do than bully others without being honest. If I do decide to stay here, I will be changing my username - my profile has more details.


	12. Convincing Father

The pilot episode of Itachi's and Sasuke's show had aired to mixed reviews. Some said it was amusing and cute, saying that the brothers were the heart of the Uchiha family. Some said that nobody could care about yet another reality television program and others called it something that you would put Nana in front of the television so you could make her drop off to sleep quickly.

Of course, it was mostly for teenage girls and other female fans. The travelling around and promoting had done its job - there had been fan meet and greets, television appearences and radio interviews as well as magazine pages devoted to them. The target audience had responded and were loving it, tweeting and blogging about the show which probably wasn't best described as a reality show. The cameras never really followed them around while they were working or at home after all. It had the two talking and doing stupid things, playing games and just being them, but it was amusingly adorable nonetheless.

Naturally, out of all the reviews, only the positive ones reached the ears of the brothers.

. .

"I'm afraid not, Sasuke."  
"Can I ask why?"  
"You're still filming, you've got a large amount of interviews and photo shoots and you're recording an album. You're honestly far too busy."  
"Why can't I just extend the project deadlines?"  
"Because that is selfish to everyone else involved, including your brother."  
"Alright then…"

The conversation was clearly over, but all Sasuke could think about was that _everything always comes down to Itachi_. He couldn't do anything to change his Father's mind about that, and he really didn't want to get his way by annoying his father into submission. At least they had managed to be civil while discussing things; a few weeks ago and it would have ended in a screaming match, so kudos to his mum for getting his stubborn father to relax a bit.

That still didn't change the fact he wanted to go to school. He had heard his mother and father talking about it the other night. She had thought it would be a good idea; get him to socialise and grow, understand people more (she made a quip about Fugaku being as social as a stick until she beat some manners into him). Fugaku had acknowledged the good points about sending him to school, though he had a list of negatives about a mile long to best it. That had been the end of their conversation. So, Sasuke thought that if he tried as well, perhaps his father would see this was something that he wanted to do and give in. He hadn't quite gotten his way, but they understood each other, which was a start. He'd just have to come up with another better argument and beat all of his father's negative points - he was as stubborn as a bull, but even he couldn't argue with logic.

. .

Filming was going badly. It wasn't just that Sasuke had been refused the opportunity to go to school though that was probably a large part of it (Mikoto had told him about it over tea two days ago and had also asked about Obito, where he got a great deal of hilarious stories about the man because of his clumsiness and bad luck). It had been decided to give the show a bit of 'extra flare'. That was code for 'Sasuke is boring, Itachi can star'. This was mainly to prevent the show from just being aimed at teen girls, and to prove critics wrong when they said the show was just to put the younger brother in the spotlight as he wouldn't get any otherwise (needless to say, Sasuke had found out about these after some idiotic stage hands gossiped too loudly and he wasn't the slightest bit impressed). Neither brother was (Itachi especially as he already hated the spotlight and was only doing this for Sasuke; why would he want to take something else from his younger brother especially when their relationship was still so rocky?). The show was meant to be Sasuke's. Itachi had everything else as well as Fugaku's attention and devotion, so this was meant to be Sasuke's compensation. Apparently everyone had forgotten that. Numerous takes were taken before it was agreed to call it quits until the next day.

However, when everyone arrived the next day, Suigetsu knew he wasn't the only one who thought today was a lot worse than the previous shoot. The brothers were irritable and snapped even at each other; Fugaku seemed to be getting more and more grumpy as time wore on as well. (He later found out both of them had been scolded for their poor performance and had to stay up late in the early hours of the morning practicing, thus getting very little sleep and having little confidence and self-worth as a result). After today's abysmal performance, it was agreed to stop shooting for a while; until after the holidays as a minimum.

He rode back to the Uchiha manor and after he said his goodbye's to Sasuke, he hunted down the older Uchiha sibling. He had to bitch at Kisame until he left (he didn't care if Itachi told him later, he just didn't want him butting in and being annoying while he was trying to get his point across). It took a while considering the terms they were on (he was slightly hurt; he and Kisame were like brothers, or cousins, so for their relationship to be ruined sucked balls to be simple). Suigetsu probably had been too rude and extreme, but he didn't need Itachi coddling him and trying to stop any negativity. The trio were still on pretty bad terms (he could see Sasuke starting to become concerned, so he and Itachi had lessened their hate a bit) but their anger was starting to wear thin and they were merely annoyed with each other. He was finally allowed to enter and before he sat like requested, he took a good look around.

To be blunt, Itachi's room was boring. Bookshelves lined the walls and there were shelves which held nothing but trophies. It was neat and tidy, not a thing out of place and everything was pristine. The room was dressed in creams and deep blues and had little in the way of comforts. There was a small table in front of the window which had a small plant on it, but that was probably the most homely thing in the vicinity. In comparison, Sasuke's room was full of colour and while not messy, it didn't look like he organised as though he were a robot either. He had a small cacti garden on one window-sill and a small fruit and vegetable garden on the other. There was always music playing (he had gotten used to changing the music when he felt like it had turned to crap, even though this often caused the teen to become quite indignant) and Tobi made an interesting bed feature.

Eventually, he sat down and Itachi asked why he was there (he didn't ask why he had chased Kisame away, but Suigetsu could see it was on the tip of his tongue). Luckily, he was a mind reader so could answer both questions for him. "Kisame is annoying and I know he wouldn't let me finish. You can blab to him later if you want, but for now I'd like it to be just us." Itachi nodded, small smile forming on his face, so he continued. "I think Sasuke should go to school." He received a raised eyebrow in response. He waited and this soon turned into a furrowed brow. By now, he knew enough time had gone by that he was allowed to keep rattling on.

"It would be so beneficial for him. You know that! Apart from actually being able to socialise, he'd be able to learn a lot more useful life skills." He could see that frown getting deeper and knew he wasn't going to get anywhere any time soon. "Look, think of it this way. At the very least, you would be able to get out of the spotlight and Sasuke would get what he wants."

Bingo. "Sasuke wants to go to school?"

"Both Mikoto and he have talked to Fugaku about it."  
"I see…"

He waited a moment before speaking again, allowing that knowledge to seep in. "You should think about it. If you think it'd be a good idea, which you would if you were a decent brother, you'd talk to your father about it. You'd only do that if you're not a coward." Those eyes seemed to flash a deep red (the setting sun, perhaps?) but he could see he got his message across. Bingo again.

"If that is all, you may leave."

Content in the knowledge he had done well, he did so, humming cheerily to himself, sticking his tongue out at Kisame as he passed and waving jauntily to Mikoto as he walked passed her office. Fugaku might be able to argue against his wife and youngest son, but he was of the opinion that Itachi was a god send - if he said something should happen, why should it not?

. .

But apparently he'd been wrong. Itachi had failed. Everyone who knew of what he'd done was shocked. It was unheard of that Itachi ever failed at everything, let alone something that involved his brother. But it had happened and Suigetsu was more than pissed. This wasn't Sasuke wanting to have fun or muck around; this was actually something he wanted to do to be _normal_ (this was where he blamed Mikoto and Fugaku - there was no reason for the kids to have been home schooled from a young age; perhaps if they'd had some influence from the outside world, they might have been a bit more sociable and happier). But that was neither here nor there; the only thing that mattered right now was convincing Fugaku that he was _wrong_ - and that was not going to be an easy task.

It was two days before Christmas and the family was doing lots of last minute interviews and photo shoots. Christmas wasn't a national holiday in Japan, but it was becoming a bit of a big deal among the younger generation and of course the retail industry was going to try and cash in on it as much as they could; as such, it ended up becoming a day to celebrate with a loved one (and thus, most single people hated it as much as they did Valentine's Day). After putting on cheerily false airs, the work for the day was over.

Both brothers left in record time - Fugaku stayed behind to see how he could 'fix the mess' they'd made. It was mid-afternoon and Sasuke was going home for the day; his shift was over so why not stay and 'help out'? He had a feeling it would not go well, but it was worth a shot (or maybe he'd just be shooting himself in the foot?). Taking a deep breath, he walked up to the man and was told to wait. He did so (trying to keep his courage from flying away from him) until the man was ready.

"What?"  
"Sasuke should go to school."  
"You're opinion-"

"Is just as important as yours." The man shut up and narrowed his eyes; he already could see he had a very tough battle waiting for him. Well, better get it over and done with. "When was the last time you really spoke to him? Asked him how his day was or if he did anything fun? When was the last time you talked to him, but not mentioned work or Itachi or how he isn't good enough? When was the last time you actually just let him be a kid and be proud of him for who he is?"

Fugaku didn't get a chance to respond. He was on a mission and on a role - he might lose his job, but at least he would have done the right thing. "Your whole family has spoken to you and asked for this. Why say no? Sasuke would be happy and get to do his own thing - he'd be happy he gets to do something Itachi couldn't; he won't have to live in his shadow, he'll be able to do something by himself." Seeing the man trying to interject, he raised his voice and continued ranting. "Yes, they care about each other a lot, but they're teenage boys - they need their space, especially because you've not only had them living and learning together, but working too. You'd find that their relationship would probably become stronger from this." He took a deep breath, feeling himself start to run out of things to say, but feeling like he hadn't made quite the impact he wanted to. "You don't have money issues and he wouldn't fail classes. Hell, if you wanted to keep him working at the same time, get him to do a short television series - I'm sure his fans would go crazy at the being able to be around their idol all the time. You could give them their ten seconds of fame every now and again too." Slowly, slowly, he was falling apart. "And well… well… It'd just be really beneficial!"

"If you were to give me one reason, what would you say to convince me?"

"This is your son's happiness, damn it! Quit being a stubborn arse and do something someone else wants to for a change!"

There were still a few people left in the studio, including Mikoto. They had all heard his last outburst and stopped to stare, wide eyed and shocked. Mikoto had her hand over her mouth and was staring worriedly over. He understood he had probably over stepped the line there, but _ugh_ Fugaku just made him so mad! These were his _children_ for god's sake! Just let them be happy!

The minutes ticked by and most people attempted to pretend they had gone back to whatever they were doing previously, though of course, everyone was listening with one ear and waiting with baited breath. Mikoto had slowly walked over, heels clicking noisily in the startled silence, placing her hand on the crook of Fugaku's elbow. The gentle touch seemed to bring him out of a small trance.

"You are a rude and arrogant young man. If you were to quit I more than likely wouldn't give you a good referral." Well, that sounded like he wasn't fired yet, which was great and all, but had he succeeded? "However," However's were good, very good indeed. Keep going old man! Stop with the suspense! "While I do not appreciate being told how to raise my children or told that I am a bad father, I do agree with you." He won? "Sasuke will be allowed to go to school; however, you will be organising the whole thing, business deal and all, so make sure you don't stuff it up or I'll have your head on a platter." HE WON! SCOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE!

Mikoto burst into tears at that point, smiling and mumbling lots of different things at once. Fugaku shook his head and led her off, while he himself may or may not have done a victory dance. Even though he had the daunting task of organising everything, he couldn't have been happier. But for now, he'd keep this victory a secret and wait for the right time to tell Sasuke. However, just because the boy had no idea didn't mean he couldn't gloat and dance until his heart was content!

* * *

Well? What do you think? Let me know in a review!  
Seriously. Theres no point in posting here if I'm not getting feedback. I'm not asking for reviews specifically: faves list, author alert, whatever.


	13. Merry Christmas Indeed

Again, no Home Coming update this week. Sorry, too busy. Might be no updates at all next week - moving house. Updated characters so hopefully may get more interest - reviews, faves, watches, anything is appreciated. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

He wanted to say that nobody was going to bring up the nonsense printed in the paper, but he knew eventually it would come up (or maybe everyone knew and had already gotten over it - he wasn't one to eavesdrop after all). However, until it inevitably arose (he had no doubt that it would, in a terrible fashion to boot) he would just keep going about his daily business and ignore the whole thing, though that was a lot easier said than done - with Sasuke doing nothing but staying at home, there was no need for him to go to work. He spent the day before Christmas wandering the city, buying and sending a few last minute presents as after thoughts. He spent the nights he didn't work at home (bars and clubs were horrible places at this time of year as they were filled with idiotic young drunks celebrating the holidays and desperately lonely older drunks drowning their sorrows), Madara's words and the words printed in the paper swirling around in his mind.

The sun rose on Christmas day to reveal a thin sheet of sparkling snow. There was enough to make snowballs for those who were lucky enough not to have to go to school or work, but most people merely grumbled about what soon would turn to slush. For Suigetsu, by the time he woke up, close to midday, most of the snow was not pristine anymore, having been eagerly trampled by laughing children or trodden on by mass amounts of workers and cars.

Christmas had never really been a big deal for him. Parents gave their children presents and there was an expensive meal of KFC for dinner. That was great and all but it honestly wasn't worth the hype. After his parents died, it just became a normal day for him and Mangetsu. In the West, even if you weren't religious, Christmas was a time to spend with family; but the only memories they had from Christmas were when they were a full family so it seemed somewhat wrong to continue to celebrate such an event when half of their number was gone.

Today the Uchiha family would be spending the day together. They weren't going to work in any way, shape or form and all of the staff were having the day off. Mikoto would take Midori to visit their family later in the evening before returning to make dinner with Sasuke's help. He wondered how the day would go - when he had celebrated Christmas as a child, the day had been spent doing everything together but he doubted Fugaku would want to be (or would able to be) cheerful all day, surrounded by people who didn't break facial muscles by smiling. (Okay, he was being mean; the guy had given in to his request so kudos to him and all but he was still a huge grump and wasn't exactly a family man to say the least.)

Sitting on his coffee table were four small, badly wrapped presents. He had no idea if he was allowed to give presents to the family, but he wanted to so he was going to, without fail (well, he only wanted to give them to Mikoto and Sasuke, but he didn't want to offend the other men either). For Fugaku, there was some port and he'd found Itachi some book on something he didn't understand in the slightest (though Kisame said his charge liked the topic so hopefully it was alright). He'd brought Mikoto some perfume and a book about flowers. For Sasuke, he had no idea what to give him, so he made a few different things. The first was a small photo album of pictures he'd either secretly taken or convinced security to print him scenes from the cameras. The second was a small book of vouchers. It contained a bunch of stupid things that the Uchiha could use whenever he felt like to make him do something, like take him to the cat cafe again or take him out to karaoke in the city. Normal every day things that weren't normal for Sasuke that he'd now get the chance to do (even if people thought them stupid, to not use a present, especially a hand made one, was incredibly rude so he knew Sasuke would be able to get away with using them without any problems).

It was nice he had presents, but actually taking them over was an entirely different story. The presents had been sitting there for the last two weeks and he'd taken them to work in his backpack every day since he'd brought them (which was one of the reasons why the wrapping paper was looking a little worse for wear). He'd just wanted to stick them somewhere noticeable where he didn't actually have to talk to anyone but today was the last day he could give them without looking stupid. Today was also the only day where he couldn't hide in among the other staff members. He sighed again, staring at the four little problems that were causing him so much grief. He really hated his idiocy and master procrastination skills sometimes.

It was half past three when he finally decided to take them over. Every time he stopped at a red traffic light he thought about turning around (even though it wasn't a public holiday, the traffic was still terrible so why keep on?) but he kept going (if he didn't, he'd only ended up drinking the port by himself and that never ended well). When he arrived, he stretched his arm through the window of his car (he always seemed to end up an inch too far in the wrong direction), entered the password on the gate and drove through once it had moved over far enough for his beaten up car to slip by. He hated driving here; the manicured lawns and plants that swayed perfectly and the limousines that guarded the entrance always made his car look far shabbier than it was. The manor, in all its splendour, dwarfed everything in and around it, making _him_ look more pathetic and average than he was.

Glaring at the cars, he left his own without locking it (if someone stole it, they'd be giving him an excellent excuse to buy a better one) and slowly ambled inside. The house was quiet, but that didn't mean anything - most of the walls were either fully or mostly soundproof so he'd have no idea where the family were until he actually bumped into them, but if he did that he had to talk to them… He wondered if Mikoto was home (travelling had taken a bit over an hour and he had no idea if she had returned from visiting her family or not). Deciding to try his luck, Suigetsu walked to the kitchen, clutching the presents awkwardly under his arm.

It would seem the fates had been kind to him as the large and spacious kitchen was empty. Dumping the presents on the island counter, he tidied them up and took a bottle of water for the fridge (everyone had learnt quickly that he was a horrible person without water and made sure to have nice cold fresh stuff available at all times). He stared at the gifts, feeling as though they were mocking him for not being man enough to give them to the recipients in person (he'd definitely been staying up too late recently if he thought the presents had something against him). He kept up the staring match with the small bundles, leaning against the fridge, slowly sipping at his water. Eventually, he decided they were right (and he also decided he was a bit more of a loony than he originally thought). Finishing the water, he refilled the bottle and replaced it in the back of the fridge. He took a candy cane from the glass bowl next to his presents before snatching them up too. With the lolly in his mouth, he made his way through the manor, hoping to find someone soon.

He'd spent twenty minutes wandering around before he finally heard the light sounds of a piano being played. Making his way towards that sound (and turning around once or twice when he went too far or couldn't hear the music anymore) he eventually reached his destination. He knocked before entering, even though the door was open. Once he was in, he took a look around; on his right hand side, both Itachi and Fugaku were sitting in front of a blazing fire and in front of him, there was a wide open window where you could see a large expanse of snow-covered garden (it was when he saw a scene like this, a scene that looked like it came straight from a movie or Christmas card, that he understood why people were so enchanted by the season). To his left were the people who he had really come to see. Sasuke sat at the piano, playing Christmas carols with Mikoto sitting beside him, singing softly along.

"Is there something you need?" Why wasn't he surprised that Fugaku seemed so bland on Christmas too?

"I just came here to give you some presents…" Sasuke stopped playing and stared at him, mouth gaping, the rest of the family acting in a similar manner. With the room plunged into silence, he awkwardly continued. "Um, they aren't really anything special or anything, but I just thought… you'd like them… or something like that…"

The family were still silent. He was almost positive that they were completely frozen, not blinking or even breathing, but that would mean they were inhuman, and despite his jokes, they really weren't that bad (or perhaps he was just trying to convince himself that the truth, right in front of him, was a lie? …Yeah, definitely need an early night tonight). Eventually, a smile broke out on Mikoto's face. Beaming, she stood and came to embrace him.

"Thank you so much dear! You're so thoughtful! Can I open it now?" Nodding dumbly, he agreed and let her drag him over to the couch were her husband sat. Sasuke followed to sit next to his brother, watching curiously as Mikoto opened her gift. Her grin grew wider and she gave him a hug, before passing the other gifts onto their respective recipients. Fugaku gave a small smirk and a gruff thanks and Itachi did seem genuinely interested in his gift (he wouldn't have put it past Kisame to tell him a load of bullshit to make himself look stupid as all hell). The best part about it was the laugh and smile he got from Sasuke (Mikoto adored the gift too and wanted to use some of the coupons for herself) - to see the quiet boy so obviously happy was something of an achievement; not just for him (though it did make him feel pretty proud and special) but for the family as it meant they were being more open with each other. What could be better at Christmas?

For Mikoto, Christmas was all about more the merrier so she invited him to stay for tea. He tried to protest but she kept insisting. Itachi, while his anger had subsided a bit, was clearly not thrilled with the idea, but Sasuke quickly sided with his mother - Fugaku said he couldn't care less so he was allowed to stay. Tea was a superbly cooked roast chicken with vegetables and salads, along with pudding, cake and icecream for dessert. Midori had stayed with the rest of her family and would return in the morning, so it was just the five of them.

By the time he reached home, his mouth was sore from smiling and laughing so much. That was the first proper Christmas he'd had since his parents had passed away. He realised it wasn't Christmas that he missed, but the sense of family and belonging; he could see that was something the Uchiha family had also missed and were starting to get back and he couldn't be happier for them.

_Merry Christmas, indeed._


	14. The Storm

Christmas wasn't something he usually enjoyed. After sharing presents, their family would go their separate ways, meeting again only for meal times. When Suigetsu had come over, the day had already been better than normal but you could also feel how hard everyone was trying, so his visit and gifts made things a bit more relaxed and natural. He'd helped them out with a lot of things and become his best friend. But after today, he wasn't sure what would happen.

A while ago, there had been, what they had thought, was a bit of rubbish gossip reported about his mother having an affair with his guard. The newspaper in question was known for publishing anything it could for ratings so they had dismissed it without care, not bothering to tell Mikoto - the only reason they would have was so she could have a laugh at it. But now, other media outlets had picked up on it and were running with it. They published personal phone records, showing the amount of time she called him; they published private details about their weekly tea meetings (which was news to Fugaku; as far as he had been concerned, his wife had never been particularly interested in speaking to the staff); they published details on how Suigetsu had been with more than one older woman in his time.

The media published gossip for ratings, that was a fact. The original story was reported by a pathetic newspaper that nobody ever believed. But these new stories that were cropping up, causing a stir on radio and tv talk shows and sending the internet into a bit of a frenzy, not to mention the waves they were causing in the elite circles… were these new stories actually true? These sources were a lot more credible, but they were still out to make money and they weren't always one hundred percent accurate. That was the problem, he mused; before, it was easy to spot a lie, but now they really had no idea what was truth and what was not.

Early this morning, his father had received a call at breakfast. When he came back, he was furious. He had yelled accusations at Mikoto - something nobody had ever seen him do before, leaving his sons stunned - until his face was red and he eventually ran out of breath. Mikoto had stayed silent throughout the entire ordeal but once her husband had finished, she stood, walked to Fugaku, slapped him and told him not to contact her until he started thinking rationally before leaving the room. She had spent the rest of the day in her office, cancelling events and re-arranging the families schedule; Fugaku was doing the same in his own office. Midori brought their meals up to their rooms and most of the staff were sent home after making sure they knew not to talk to the press and understood the consequences of talking to _anyone_ about the matter. Suigetsu had been told to stay at home; Fugaku and Mikoto would sort things out, then he would be brought in to discuss things. Itachi and Sasuke had spent the day together in the same lounge they'd had Christmas in the day before; the fire was going and he was playing the same songs, but everything seemed dull somehow.

It couldn't be true. His mother wasn't that type of woman! She knew her husband wasn't perfect, but he loved her and she did too; she wasn't the type of person who would keep up a charade if she didn't believe in the act. Suigetsu was a pain and an idiot, but he wasn't _that_ thick! Sleeping with a married woman, especially one with children, was dumb enough as it was, let alone sleeping with one that was as well-known and influential as Mikoto was.

The day had been slow going as everything felt as though it were drowned in every negative feeling that was able to be named. The house was quiet and Midori spent the day alternating between fretting over the boys and over Mikoto. The woman had just brought him dinner in his room - Itachi had slunk off to his own room earlier, believing his younger brother didn't know Kisame had arrived. After eating, he merely sat in his room, Tobi willingly sitting on his lap, understanding there was something wrong with his human.

He had no idea what to do. No sooner had his family started to slowly repair itself were they torn apart again. When everything came to light (he knew his father would realise his mother hadn't done what the papers said, he _had_ to believe her), things would start getting better, but he knew that this would stain his parent's relationship. You could love someone with everything that you were, but that didn't mean you trusted or respected them. That love wouldn't remove the doubt that would linger between them from now on; this incident and the feelings that came with it wouldn't leave their memories for a long time.

Sasuke sat alone in his room for a while longer, updating his blog with a pointless little comment, skimming over the issue and attaching a Christmas photo. Itachi had done a similar thing not too long before hand; fans had commented Christmas and New Years wishes as well as their beliefs that the media was lying and publishing horrible gossip. A quick google search revealed other opinions though; Fugaku was a hard man and deeply involved in his various businesses - many speculated that Mikoto would often be lonely, so an affair seemed obvious. Apart from that, she spent a lot of time with Sasuke, which meant more access to the hired help. Opinion was mixed as to weather she should be allowed an affair or not. But others said, if there was found to be an affair, it would more than likely be on Fugaku's part; after all, he had an ego the size of Tokyo and his wife, while loving, also kept him in line. However, she travelled often and not many people would be willing to tattle on a man with such authority as Fugaku.

He didn't know what to think. He could see both sides of the argument, but seeing so many random people, so many strangers who he didn't even know commenting on his parent's problem was just so _oddly bizarre_; is this what it was like to be a real celebrity, having people comment on every aspect of your life, regardless if it hurt or not? He couldn't even talk to them and tell them his father wasn't _all bad_ and his mother wasn't an angel either, so they were missing out on so much information! How could they make proper judgements? Who the hell were they to judge anyway?

For the first time in his life, he was truly glad he didn't have friends. How embarrassed would he be! But, it was kind of sad too. Midori was his first friend, but she was also his cousin (he'd been a bit shocked when he found that out, but it honestly didn't surprise him; he didn't see it as Fugaku being embarrassed, he saw it as his father protecting Midori's pride - serving your own family wouldn't be easy, after all). She didn't really count as a real friend because of those familiar ties. And Suigetsu was his guard first, the hired help; he had to be around him, but they didn't have to be friends. But now they were friends, they were supposed to help each other; he wasn't supposed to be causing the ruckus! He wouldn't have talked about this issue with his friends, but it would have been nice to have them anyway…

. .

She. Was. Furious! How _dare_ Fugaku act the way he had?! Apart from the fact they she was no child and therefore did not warrant being yelled at, to do so in a house full of staff and in front of their children! They were _married_ for god's sake! Yes, they only did marry because she fell pregnant, but really, if she didn't care two hoots about him, she certainly wouldn't have hung around him for over twenty years! After all, you only needed to stay with someone two years to be able to stake a decent size claim in their assets; pre-nuptials didn't cover everything after all.

The day was spent in a foul mood until she calmed down enough to just be annoyed and indignant. She spent the day changing the schedules of her and her boys. By the time that was done, Midori brought her lunch. The girl hovered for a moment, even though she had been dismissed.

"Midori, leave. It's a false rumour and I'm busy sorting it out."  
"Aunty called me. She's really worried; she was crying, Mikoto."  
Her reply was a bit defeated, but it satisfied her cousin. "I'll call her later…"  
'Later' turned out to be just before dinner. It wasn't a call she wanted to make, but she did so anyway.

"Hello?"  
"Mama, it's me."  
"Oh Mikoto! We've seen everything and-"  
"It's not true, Mama." The other end went silent. She knew her mother would have taken it as fact, not because she thought her daughter was a harlot, but because she thought Fugaku was horrible and heartless and her poor daughter would have to get love from somewhere else. Her mother attempted to start speaking a few times, but gave up and continued her silence.

"I love him, Mama. He's a block head and rude and ignorant, but he does love me and until today, we had the most realistically perfect relationship we could in our situation. These rumours have made a huge mess and completely shaken our family. I know you wish it were true, but it isn't so I need you to make sure you tell people that and act just as indignant as the rest of us."

"…If you're happy, dear."  
"I have never not been, Mama."

Stiff good-byes were exchanged before they hung up. Mikoto hated being short with her mother, but after so long, you would think she would at least accept Fugaku (though in her mother's defence, she wasn't allowed to go home much, so no wonder her mother hated her husband). Half of her to do list was done. All that remained now was to talk to both of her boys, before speaking to the idiot who had caused this tense silence to cover their household.

Itachi was easy enough to talk to (though both he and Kisame had been indignant when she demanded the guard leave). Honestly, she was accused of having an affair with one guard, even though her son was present ninety percent of the times they were together, so why would she take another chance? Her eldest understood that the rumours were just that and nothing more. He also understood that it meant either someone within their close employment had blabbed, someone had blackmailed more than one person, or a family member was spreading bullshit. Though he did say he was upset with her for not covering her tracks. This caused her to snarl at him, something she had _never_ _ever_ done.

"Why should I have covered my tracks? Everything was done with perfect innocence! Just because you and your father are sneaking around, keeping secrets when they should be told, keeping secrets over important things and making a huge issue over nothing, does not mean I should keep secrets over having friends!"

He had seemed ashamed of himself, but being bullheaded like his father, remained tight lipped and refused to apologise or admit he had seen her point, so she left him. Sasuke was next; she knew he was already on her side, but she knew this would have hurt him. Suigetsu was one of the only friends he had, and they'd become so close that this scandal would have surely upset him. She had barely finished knocking before she walked into his room, joining him on the bed. Tobi meowed loudly, stretching so that he lay on both of their laps, gazing up at her with wide, understanding eyes. How was it that she felt a cat understood and cared more than her son and husband right now?

"I don't believe its true. You're not that type of woman, and he's not _that _thick."  
"How are you feeling though?"  
"Shocked, I s'pose. I've never seen you and father fight before. Itachi was stunned too, but I don't think he feels quite the same as I do - I think he thinks father's actions were inappropriate for such a public setting, rather than inappropriate altogether."  
"I'm sorry that everyone will be caught up in this."  
"That's okay. It isn't a big deal because it's false."  
"Thank you for being honest, Sasuke. Thank you for being polite about the whole thing too."

"Father and Itachi spoke - I think they're both idiots." She laughed a little at that. They were silent for a moment before her son spoke again. "Do you ever regret marrying father?" Her eyes widened; didn't he just say things were fine? "Not because you don't love him, but because now you're in the spotlight? Your every move is followed and critiqued - do you regret not marrying someone normal?"

"Not in the slightest. I can help so many people with where I am now. Nobody has ever said anything bad about me before; once in twenty years is a good record, don't you think? As long as you keep your nose clean, you have nothing to worry about." He nodded, agreeing and understanding. Changing the subject, as she was still concerned with how Sasuke was coping with the situation, she asked, "What about Suigetsu?"

"Everyone knows you're friendly and will talk to anyone that has the patience to listen. Obviously, you two get along well. When put in a certain light, the stuff that was published looks really bad, but if they were put into context, it wouldn't be a problem. I don't think he thought anything was going to happen and he wouldn't do this to hurt us or for money or anything. The whole things just nonsense. The only thing I'm upset with is now I'm going to have to deal with his idiotic jokes about this once the whole mess blows over."

Smiling, they sat together for a while more. Despite today, she was glad she had placed her trust in Suigetsu. He had got Sasuke to open up, act more his age and see more than one side of the story. He was able to talk through things now rather than just bottling them up and exploding when the slightest thing set him off. Tobi licked her hand before turning around to get more comfortable, reverting back to his old grumpy self now that he knew his humans were feeling better. Taking that as her queue to leave, she bade Sasuke goodnight after informing him of the changed schedules. Suigetsu would be over tomorrow, so the mess would be fully sorted out then and after that, back to normality (what remained of it at least).

Her final task for the day: Fugaku. Half way to his office, she stopped and turned around. She normally wasn't one for drinking, especially drinking when her feelings were in the extremes, but today, she couldn't care less.

. .

Yell yell yell. Threaten threaten threaten. Question question question. That's all he'd done all day. His assistant had changed his schedule and then corrected his planner in accordance to what Mikoto had decided. He'd personally called Suigetsu. The phone call had been short and he had made it clear that, as of then, he didn't believe the story one way or the other. He didn't say anything about the fight he and Mikoto had had (if they were screwing around, he didn't want to give him more of a chance to convince his wife to leave him but it was also because he had been inconsiderate and hadn't got the facts; he'd been far out of line and was embarrassed by his own actions). He told the boy to be at the manor; the whole family would have a meeting and sort things out properly (he mentally kicked himself; this was a personal family affair and he was holding 'meetings' - he wasn't at work, damn it! But he couldn't change his default nature either, especially when he was in shock).

Interestingly, Suigetsu told him about the original article (that made a lot of comments from the family gathering make a lot more sense now). He hadn't bothered to say anything because he said it was a lie from a rubbish, second rate paper. Fugaku couldn't argue with the second bit, but the first part was yet to be proven.

His assistant had looked at both of his son's blogs and read aloud the comments of support for Mikoto. At least business wasn't suffering so far (again he kicked himself but this was his livelihood as well as their's - he didn't believe in simply leeching off the family fortune; he believed in earning and working hard for everything you owned). The internet was full of gossip in addition to many rude quips about his wife (even if she had been found to cheat, she was still his wife and he would _not_ stand people belittling her) and speculations about the true nature of their relationship.

Itachi saw him before he retired to his room. He wasn't pleased with his actions at breakfast but said his mother should have been more thoughtful. There was nothing wrong with having a friend, he had said, but a woman in her position should have thought ahead. Personally, he agreed. All she needed to do was leave her office doors open, or have tea in a public place, like the gardens, so nothing could have been said. But that was neither here nor there. He talked to Sasuke after he spoke to Itachi. Sasuke was furious with him, which he expected. Neither of them said much, but Sasuke made his stance clear. Fugaku told him that he didn't have an opinion one way or the other, but did regret his actions and revealed what he and Itachi had spoken about. Sasuke agreed that, yes, it would have been _smart_, but why should it have been necessary? He couldn't help but agreeing with that too.

He went back to his office and sat, pondering his next move. He had nothing to do except for apologise to Mikoto and actually let her speak for herself rather than accepting the media's stories. But honestly, he just wanted to go to bed, have a good rest, wake up in the morning and pretend nothing had happened. Apart from the one they shared, he and Mikoto had separate bedrooms, not because they'd ever fought, but if one came in late from work or if one was sick, the other could still have a decent sleep, so he could really go to his own room and pretend to be tired without things being _too_ weird (he knew she'd know he was being a coward though and that was enough to make him throw the idea out the window).

He wasn't a huge drinker (the port Suigetsu had given him would last a year as a minimum) but tonight, he think he deserved one. The bottle of port sat on his desk (he'd placed it there so if anyone visited, he could brag his staff liked him so much they gave him presents) but it made him sick to even look at it after today. So he walked to the kitchen, brisk as always, but shuddered to a sudden stop when he saw Mikoto was already helping herself to some wine.

"You might as well sit. Well, after you get a drink; I'm not pouring _you_ one." Judging by the slur, it was more than just the one she had, but with her size and lack of love for the liquid, she wasn't a heavy weight either. He did as he was told and sat next to her at the island counter. They didn't look at each other and the silence was almost tangible. He finished his drink, poured another, downed that slowly too. The clock still ticked in the silence (was it just his imagination, or was it moving far slower than usual?). Eventually, Mikoto broke the silence.

"First of all, whether those stories were true or not, you _never _have the right to yell at me like that. I have never had any right to hit you either and I apologise for that."

He nodded, swirling his glass, the ice cubes that hadn't melted clinking gently at the bottom. "I agree. I'm apologise for my actions too. They were unjust and barbaric. I should have let you speak first and I should have not been as public as I was."

"It's all lies, you know? Marriage is marriage, it might not be a once off thing, but you shouldn't break it for a bit of fun. Sex is the same - you should only be with the people you love, not everyone who walks past." He snorted at her bluntness, smirking a little. "You know I love you. I should be here more but you need to not work so much too. I think this has been coming for a long time; we haven't been a family for ages and now this happened it completely freaked us out."

"If we'd been strong in the beginning, there would have been no doubt between us, no problem at all."  
"Exactly."  
"I know you just told me, but tell me again. Look me in the eyes and tell me its false."

She sighed, but did so anyway. He knew the answer would be the same and she knew that he always said he could tell if someone was lying by looking in their eyes when they spoke. They both knew he was bullshitting. He wanted to see how today had affected her. At some point, she'd been crying. It hadn't been recently as her eyes weren't incredibly blood shot, but they were still red around the rims and under her bottom eyelashes were puffy. It looks like she'd been furiously wiping at her nose too; it was a faint pink on the tip and apparently she'd given herself a small cut with one of her rings (ironically, she was only wearing her wedding rings today).

She was scrutinising him in the same way. He hadn't passed a mirror all day and wondered what she saw. He didn't cry; he rarely ever did. He'd been shocked and stunned and had pulled at his hair and swore a lot, but those were things you couldn't really see; you could see when someone was openly distraught, could hear the nasally voice and the downtrodden attitude, but when there was someone like him who kept it all in, showing minimal outside signs, what did that show people? Did she think he didn't care? That it hadn't phased him? Or did she know him well enough that she knew today had ripped at his heart?

"Where do we go from here?" That was the question, wasn't it?  
"Our trust and faith has been broken. I guess we just keep doing what we've been doing. We need to actually learn to be a family again; this has been another incident to prove how far we've drifted from each other."  
She nodded. "And Suigetsu?"  
Fugaku couldn't stop the twinge of bitterness within him when she said his name. "We'll talk to him tomorrow, all of us, as a family. If he hasn't done anything wrong-"  
"I just told you-!"

"We don't know that he didn't start this rumour, Miko." He spoke softly, looking at her directly so she knew he wasn't distrusting her. He could see she believed it wasn't him, but he was adamant - this man was in charge of his son's safety, there was no harm in double checking he was genuine. "As I was saying, if he hasn't done anything, he doesn't have to worry. But for now, the focus is on us and repairing."

She nodded and he smiled albeit sadly, seeing the drink and stress of the day had exhausted her. Even if wanted to continue talking, he knew she was done for the day. Leaving their glasses where they were, he helped her to their room. They both changed slowly and slipped into bed. Their routine was the same as always (she always faced him and in the morning, she'd complain that the sun woke her up far too early and he'd laugh and pull her into his chest) but, while it didn't feel forced, it didn't feel right either. He had a sinking feeling it wouldn't feel right for a long time either and that honestly hurt.


	15. The Not So Calm Aftermath

The meeting with the Uchiha's honestly hadn't been too bad (if you'd asked him about it beforehand, you would have known he was shitting bricks so the brave facade was wasted on Mangetsu and Kisame). He knew he hadn't done anything wrong and by the time he got there, he knew the whole family knew that too, but it was still nerve-wracking. But for the next week, things were seriously awkward. He felt as though he wasn't allowed to speak and he was monitored by everyone. The media was still on his back despite the press releases the family had done and the boy's blog posts. They didn't harass him, but they were making notes about what time it was when he got home and what he was wearing, if he had people with him and what he was carrying with him (he knew this because he'd gone and harassed one of them after becoming more than slightly annoyed; that guy's boss had called his boss who had backed him up - why follow someone for no reason? After threatening the company and saying they'd charge the guy with stalking, the paper backed off - other outlets quickly caught wind of the threat and followed suit). Fugaku wasn't the nicest guy in the world and considering what had just occurred, he wouldn't have cared if the man left him to fend for himself. Apart from it being a business decision, he was also standing up for his wife and staff, making sure everyone knew their stance and that the issue was over _so drop it or else_.

He'd had a lot of time off recently. Before Christmas due to the boy's lacklustre performances - the break was until after New Year's, so Suigetsu had ample time to sort things out. After the discussion he'd had with the family concerning the rumours (he could see Mikoto and Sasuke were fully on his side; Fugaku was trying to see both sides and be courteous though he was still wary) he spoke to Mikoto and Fugaku alone. He apologised for the mess, even though he hadn't done anything, and was told everything was fine. But he had one more thing to say before they left.

"I've finished organising everything for Sasuke."  
Mikoto looked ecstatic. "Already?"  
Even Fugaku looked impressed, which he tried to hide. "What school did you choose?"  
"Konoha Gakuen."  
"That's a public school, isn't it?"

"There's nothing wrong with public schools! I went to one!" …Okay, yeah, that wasn't the smartest thing to say. Both Uchiha's snorted at him but didn't complain further. "Um, he'll start on January 7th."

"Have you brought everything he needs?"  
"I'll go do that today, unless I'm needed here for anything..?"  
"You're free to go." The couple turned to leave but Mikoto turned her head to mouth a 'thank you' to him. He smiled in response.

He was relieved that things had gone so well. He was honestly afraid of losing his job - he'd invested far too many hours around far too many crazy people to lose now! They were like some kind of weird family and he had been terrified about how angry they were going to be. Fugaku wasn't pleased that his wife was spending time with another man, but he knew there was nothing sinister planned; he knew she was entitled to have male friends too, and he would be stupid to try and control her but he couldn't help his jealousy and possessiveness on the odd occasion. Itachi and Sasuke had both been fine, though unfortunately the incident had reignited Kisame's and Itachi's anger towards him (like it was his fault rumours had started? It was probably a crazy relative from the reunion - he told Fugaku about the comments he heard and about what Madara said too though it seemed the man had figured things out himself).

The situation was officially resolved, the storm over, but it would take a long time until things calmed down. That was going to be annoying, but everyone would just have to deal with it. Getting on with life was the only way to move forward. For now, he would get Sasuke settled - starting school would get his mind off things (though now, it would also bring in a lot of gossip and questions; the boy would just have to learn to deal with them). Leaving the Uchiha manor, he returned home and changed before going back out to the shops - he didn't want to look like he was working after all, lest Sasuke find out and sniff out a secret. He was tempted to be a dick and buy the boy a bunch of Hello Kitty stuff before giving him his actual school things but decided against it. Everything was being paid for by the Uchiha's; he didn't want them to find out and he _really_ didn't want to cause tension again so soon.

After the stationary and planners, he brought the boy some books that would help, not just educational ones (Fugaku had wanted him to buy those, probably to remind the boy the people in school would be less advanced and get him on the 'right' level) but ones about social skills because knowing Sasuke, being as awkward and nasty around people he'd just met, he'd put his foot in his mouth and celebrity or not, someone would deck him and that _really_ wouldn't look good. When that was finished with, he had to travel to Konoha to collect Sasuke's uniform (he was guessing sizes so he hoped they weren't too far off) and finalise paperwork with the principle.

His chores were done for the day, so he went home, allowing himself a congratulatory drink. It might have been the booze, but he felt oddly happy and fulfilled for some reason.

. .

December Thirtieth, 2012; 4:50 pm  
***Watch This Space***  
_On January Seventh, something very special will happen. Until then, it must remain top secret. 'Top secret', as in, 'Even Sasuke doesn't know' secret! (I know you'll read this so don't even bother pestering me about it; you'll find out on the Seventh like everyone else)_  
_I can say that this endeavour is something we've never done before and will add a mini-segment to our show._  
_Don't let curiosity kill the cat,_  
_Itachi_

Kisame watched him type the message before leaving for the day. Suigetsu was supposed to be his friend, yet he had threatened them and their relationship, all for the sake of Sasuke's happiness. He couldn't fault him, but it certainly didn't sit well with him either - he would have done the same if Itachi's happiness was on the line but to knowingly hurt your friend when there was no need to threaten… Itachi would have told Sasuke of their relationship in complete confidentiality because of the risks he felt were present, so why had Sasuke then blabbed to Suigetsu? Well, now was the perfect time to find out.

"Kisame?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Is something going on? I thought you and Suigetsu were friends. You and nii-san seem pretty angry with him, to say the least."

"Just annoyed with things he said. Nothing big really."  
"You're lying."  
"Yeah?"

"Yeah, so tell the truth. You know I'll find out one way or another, so why bother beating around the bush?" _I also know how easy you are to bait Sasuke, and you just fell right for it._

Heaving a heavy sigh, he tried to act as though Sasuke had caught him out. He was a crappy actor, but was hoping the boy wouldn't notice; 'victory' and his curiosity would hopefully cloud his vision. "Itachi told him not to upset your father, he didn't want the idiot to get himself into a mess and fired, he can see how close you two are after all. But somehow he found out about Itachi and I," he lowered his voice, making the boy lean forward slightly to hear properly, "and used it as blackmail against us." Sasuke frowned and he knew the next few minutes were critical to not only getting the information he wanted, but getting the boy on his side too. "He said Itachi wasn't doing his job as a brother properly, he should be fighting for you and protecting you. Itachi is trying to help you while letting you grow as an individual, you know?" He didn't let Sasuke answer, he wasn't finished yet. "After that, he called your brother a coward and said he'd take over the duties of being a brother; if Itachi didn't agree, he was going to tell Fugaku about us - Itachi had no choice but to back off."

Some of it may be embellished (so what? People were known for bad memories when they were upset) and he didn't give too many details as it was better for Sasuke to create his own doubt rather than feeding it to him. He could see the machine cogs turning in Sasuke's head as he frowned, biting his lower lip. He murmured that he didn't think Suigetsu would have abused the information he was told (Thanks for the admittance, Sasuke), he wasn't that type of person, right?

"People can do strange things when they're in positions of power, kid. Just watch yourself, alright?" A hearty clap on the shoulder and he was gone, smirking as he left Sasuke standing there, pondering over different pieces of information. By that night, Sasuke had decided he was angry with the man (he'd even called to say he shouldn't bother coming in until the seventh, which he knew stung Suigetsu - he knew because Suigetsu called Mikoto to see what was wrong, but she came up with nothing either and had come to Itachi about it; he knew nothing either, of course). Perhaps it was a dick move, but truly, Sasuke would get over it, Suigetsu would redeem himself with the school thing and it made him feel better, so what did it really matter?

. .

Apparently it had mattered a lot more than he thought. Had he been wrong to keep Suigetsu away? Why was the man so persistent anyway? Though he supposed he'd be emotional too if someone had just cut him off for no reason whatsoever… According to his mother, the man was stressed about not coming in - that sounded a little weird… If he were truthful, he was being as bad as his father was; by taking Kisame's word and not actually talking to Suigetsu himself, was he any better? While he was mad, he couldn't fault him entirely - Itachi had basically dumped him after he hooked up with Kisame so it wasn't unreasonable that Suigetsu saw that his own brother wasn't acting like one. Blackmail was a bit much though… That, however, was their own matter. He had been petty and would apologise and allow the man back into the manor. But that was also for selfish reasons too (okay, safety reasons, not selfish ones). This was because he had somehow acquired himself a stalker.

Well, he was pretty sure he had. He'd heard his parent's muttering about strange letters that didn't make sense and there had been awfully bizarre posts on his blog as well as personal pictures that the press, due to the restrictions Fugaku placed on them, wouldn't have been able to obtain. Everyone was doing their best to find out what was going on and stop it. For now, he knew he was in no immediate danger, but he was confined to the manor (not even allowed out too far into the garden) and that didn't sit well with him. It felt like there was a dark black block of uneasiness sitting at the bottom of his stomach and the worried looks and extra security just made him feel more anxious than safe.

Sasuke felt better when Suigetsu returned (not just for safety, but he made things a lot more light hearted too), apologised profusely and had told him what Kisame said. His guard was sheepish and told a story that sung almost the exact same tune, which made him frown. Suigetsu had blackmailed his own brother, so he wasn't pleased with the man, but he could understand the reasoning. This was just another bump in the relationships he had; things would heal and its not like his guard did anything seriously wrong, so he didn't doubt things would be back to normal in no time.

It was the third of January and he still hadn't succeeded to find out what was happening in a few days time. Suigetsu knew and acted like the cat who had both the canary and the cream. He refused to tell no matter how annoying he acted and everyone else followed suit, all responding with "You'll see" and a smile or smirk. How annoying!

He knew his father knew too, but knew better than to bother trying to get an answer from him. He didn't want his father smirking at him either, though at least it would be in a more understanding way than when he used to lord things over him. When his father called him to his office, he wondered if it was worth the shot of asking; things were getting better and surely one little question couldn't make things worse, right?

Fugaku's office was large, spacious, and dark even though the curtains had been opened and the windows were open. Most things were made of a rich, highly polished wood and the walls were lined with awards, certificates and numerous books on various things relating to the families different businesses. On his desk, there were two photos; one of Mikoto beaming brightly at the camera and one of the family from when he was a child (he was honestly shocked that was there - he didn't think his father was the sentimental type). Paperwork was placed neatly into files or piles and the room lacked the gadgets Mikoto's office had - the only technology the room had was the phone and a laptop (and even they were starting to be outdated).

His father was on the phone when he entered, so he took the seat across from the large desk, glancing around with curiosity. Sasuke couldn't remember the last time he'd been here - at least five years, right? Not much had changed from what he could remember - the plant in the corner had died and replaced with something brighter (Mikoto or Midori's choice no doubt) though the rug was the same from before (he honestly thought that had been thrown out; maybe nobody had told his father of the time Tobi had snuck in and thrown up on it…). Just as he was getting bored surveying things, his father ended the phone call. Even though they were getting on better now, his father's gaze still made him feel like he had to sit up straighter and speak properly.

"How have you been, Sasuke?" What? This wasn't business? "Surely the last few weeks haven't been easy for you."

"Um, I'm going okay I guess." Shock stole his formality, but Fugaku didn't seem to care - was he allowed to be casual now? That would be nice - formal language was stuffy and it took far too long to get out what you wanted to say.

"How's Suigetsu?"

"Fine. But he keeps saying that I'll love the seventh and keeps rubbing it in my face that he knows more than I do. Everyone does."

Not many things startled him, he was an Uchiha after all. However, 'proper' Uchiha's did not laugh like his father currently was. Was he sick? Drunk perhaps? Things had been a bit rough recently, he wouldn't blame the man sneaking a drink or two, plus, Suigetsu's port had suddenly disappeared…

"You will find out and you will enjoy it. He's worked really hard for this, so make sure to thank him."  
"What?"  
"You'll see."

"…That's super annoying, you know?" He got another chortle and a smirk in response to that. When the noise died down and they had small talk about every topic under the sun (except the weather, because that had been discussed at breakfast and why waste time repeating the same topics) they were quiet for a few more moments, both having plenty of things to say but not knowing how to say them. Eventually, he stood up - they obviously weren't quite ready for a heart-to-heart just yet, though the time was coming closer. A bright smile and a 'see you later, dad' and he left, shutting the door behind him, proud of the progress they'd made in such a short time.

. .

'Dad'. Sasuke had said that. Even Itachi had never said that before. Up until now, it always had been 'father'. It was new and everyone knew he hated things that were new, didn't like surprises or change, but this was something he could deal with, something that made him proud, made him feel as though he was finally doing something right.

But speaking of his boys, unlike what everyone thought, he never saw them as different. It always came out that way, because he was trying to push Sasuke to be better, he just hadn't done so in the right way. He was of the belief that if you wanted to do something, even if you didn't want to do it, you should never be half-hearted; giving your all was the only way to promote yourself and push yourself. He simply wanted his boys to give their all; Itachi, being older, more formal and respectful to elder's and their wishes, did so without question but it was also obvious to tell his heart wasn't in it. He wasn't going to let him sit around the house and do nothing all day, leeching off the family funds but so far, apart from show business, Itachi hadn't indicated interests in any other field (he said he didn't want to work for the family businesses, which didn't narrow things down at all). Sasuke just had his head in the clouds. If he could do things at his own pace, he would have found things a lot better, as he was far too independent to enjoy having things scheduled for him, but scheduling was the nature of his job and that couldn't be changed.

From now on, he was going to try and understand them both better. He was going to try and explain his thoughts and actions, rather than just demand they be done. He would try and lessen their loads and help them do things they wanted to more and be less critical and praise them more. He wasn't perfect, and he wasn't going to try and be (while he believed in giving it your best, there was no point furiously pounding at something that was unachievable) - but he would try to be better in absolutely everything and make them proud to call him 'dad'.


	16. So Begins The Life of A Celebrity Studen

"Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey!" A muffle groan worked its way out from under Sasuke's pillow as his response so he retaliated by picking up Tobi. The cat was watching from the end of the bed and growled when he picked it up; it turned into a startled _mrrow! _As he threw it on his charge's head. While not the cheery 'good morning!' he wanted, the startled shout at least meant the boy was awake, which was a start. "Hurry up! You need to get moving or you'll be late, kid! Go shower first, your clothes are already in the bathroom. Come straight down for breakfast when you're done!" Ignoring how the boy quipped he already had a mother, he hummed as he led a grumpy Tobi out of the room and out into the garden's (he even went and retrieved the feral thing a bowl of milk he was so cheerful). He chatted to one of the gardeners, a woman older than Mikoto but just as lively for a while before heading back inside. He had just sat down at the breakfast table, grinning widely, proudly to the family, before Sasuke came in, confused as all hell.

"What am I wearing? Like, obviously, I know what it is, I'm not dumb, but why?"

Tittering, Mikoto shoved a little on his shoulder's to make him sit, placing breakfast in front of him. He frowned at the toast soldiers and glared at their smiles. Mama Uchiha left the room for a moment and returned with a backpack and neatly wrapped _bentou_."You're going to school dear, why else?"

The juice that had been in the youngest Uchiha's mouth was promptly spat out, much to the disgust and amusement of the other's present. Mikoto shoved a napkin at him and ignored his splutters, fussing over his hair. "Suigetsu will attend with you, but he'll stay in the office all day, so he'll be the first to know if you're in trouble, so _behave_." She placed the boxed lunch in the backpack, manoeuvring the contents to do so, still talking. "Your schedule has been rearrange significantly, so you'll need to make sure you keep up with study and work - if you can't, this whole thing will be over with, understand?" The boy nodded furiously, eating furiously (at new toast, he'd pushed the soggy soldiers away with what looked to be smug satisfaction). "We're placing a lot of trust in you, but we know you'll do us proud! The car leaves in a bit over half an hour; how about you update your blog before you go?"

Swallowing a huge amount, the boy grinned. "Mama, Papa, thank you!"  
Fugaku snorted, "Didn't I tell you you needed to thank Suigetsu? He organised the whole thing after all."  
"Thank you!"  
"No problem, brat."

At that moment, no two words could ever make him feel more complete.

. .

_January Seventh, 2013; 7:42 am_  
_*School!*_

I'M GOING TO SCHOOL! I'm really excited about this! I've always been home schooled but aways wanted to go to proper school, like normal people do! I'm really thankful to my family for letting my dream come true! (Apparently, most kids don't like school and would say this isn't a dream - is that true?) I'm super excited! I still don't know what the mini-segment will be though… I'll go find out! I'll see you later!

_Maybe I'll get to see you soon!_  
_Sasuke_

Username:_ Uchiha Itachi  
_I'm glad you're happy - we've been working on this for weeks. Make sure not to get in trouble and don't annoy everyone. Have a good day,  
Your brother, Itachi

Username: _Sakura77 (Rank: Top Fan)  
_I'm so happy for you, Sasuke-kun! I hope you have a lot of fun and meet lovely people! I hope I'm going to your school!

Username: _FlowerPrincess (Rank: Top Fan)  
_Sasuke~! Congratulations! I can't wait to see this on your show! It'll allow me to get to know you even more 3 Have a great first day!

Mikoto and he scrolled through the messages (she kept giggling and pointing at certain ones), Itachi doing the same in his room with Kisame hovering over his shoulder. To be honest, he still wasn't sure this was a good idea, especially making it so public - safety was a huge concern, but he supposed he had Suigetsu there and anyone who tried to mess with an Uchiha would end up with a nasty mess of their own, that he was certain of. But the guard was right, this was his son's happiness; if things didn't work out, then so be it, at least he had tried. He would spend the rest of the day worrying and being told off by Mikoto for constantly checking in with Suigetsu who soon stopped responding because his 'fingers were getting sore'. Hmph. Arrogant brat. Despite that, he couldn't help but smile.

. .

The entire drive to Konoha Gakuen, he chatted and was practically bouncing around the small cabin. When he met the principal and his home room teacher, Hatake Kakashi, he was incredibly polite and chirpy. He wondered who had organised this: his father wouldn't have wanted him near anyone that close to Obito (whether they be friends or otherwise) but Fugaku had eventually caved to the idea of him going to school too, so it was possible that it wasn't merely Suigetsu's scheming that ending up with him having Kakashi as a teacher. When Kakashi-sensei pointed everything out for him on the map (students would give him a proper tour later), he gave his utmost attention. When he said goodbye to Suigetsu with a cheering wave, watching as his guard retreat back into the office (which was connected to the staff room) he was shaking with the type of nervous excitement you get when you go to a theme park; you want to try everything and have the best experience possible but theres a bit of the unknown in there too.

Sasuke and Kakashi stopped in front of the door of their classroom. He could hear a soft murmur flowing through the closed sliding doors and occasionally a loud laugh would ring out. Kakashi stopped, hand on the door, to look at him. It was a good thing he had, because Sasuke had suddenly froze. This had seemed so much easier earlier! Now he had to go and talk to people he didn't know, didn't have a script, hadn't even seen a _drama_ like this and-

"They know theres a new student, but they don't know who. They have been told to be respectful and not to pry though. Say what you want, or don't. I don't care either way as long as you're a good student." He blinked owlishly up at the man. He couldn't tell for sure, but he thought that under the mask, he must have been smiling as the cloth had bunched a little. The man hadn't told him what to do, but those few words made him feel a bit calmer. He nodded and the door was open.

Kakashi motioned for him to stay there and walked swiftly to his desk. "Class, we have a new student. Ladies, please keep calm and don't destroy my hearing. I believe his parent's also would like him back in once piece." He waved a finger. Taking a deep breath he stepped into the classroom. There was silence and then all hell broke loose. Most of the male population slammed their hands over their ears (Kakashi had been putting in ear buds while he spoke and was now sporting a smirk). Sasuke stood awkwardly at the front of the class. This was much different to an event where guards and crew would keep the fans under control. Here, he was completely on his own, having to deal with wild, rabid creatures with practically no defence. He gulped and twitched a smile (which looked like more of a grimace) but that set them off again. Eventually, they quietened down and the males grumbled about the noise while the girls looked at him with large, anticipating eyes. They didn't seem so bad when they were quiet!

"Hello! My name is Uchiha Sasuke. It's nice to meet you all. I've never been to school before, so I hope you'll be patient with me until I get my bearings." It was strange; he was speaking as casually as he did when he was on tv, but he felt a lot more natural, a lot more like he actually was, rather than just someone pretending to be a nice person. He still did feel a bit like an actor, but that was his job, right? He'd never get away from that fully (though he did he would be able to fully communicate without trying to act his way through situations).

"Fantastic. Go sit next to Naruto. All of you, it's maths first. Get your stuff ready as I write things on the board." A blonde boy put his hand up and waved vigorously; a couple of the girls glared at this (did seating arrangements really matter that much?). He walked up to the back and smiled tentatively; Naruto grinned back, and as corny as it sounded, it looked like he shined as bright as the sun. Bright blonde hair and crystal blue eyes and the whitest teeth he'd seen outside the industry with a mega-watt smile.

For most of the lesson, he and Naruto talked quietly. Kakashi was a pretty easy going teacher; it wasn't his problem if you failed, though he hated people falling asleep - if he wasn't allowed to, why were you? He didn't like cellphones either but apart from that, as long as you were quiet and looked like you were working, he wouldn't threaten you. By the end of the lesson, he learnt Naruto's dad was a politician and his mum, much like his own, partook in a lot of charity work. He also learnt that Naruto couldn't multi-task: Sasuke had written down all of the notes Kakashi had said too, plus extras whereas Naruto had a page full of doodles (though he wasn't half bad at drawing foxes, looking at the one that took up most of the bottom page).

After that, it was off to English in a different room; exit the room, turn left, down the second hall on the right, turn left, go right and it was the third classroom on the right (next to the water fountain and the girl's toilets and in front of the art building). He tried to remember where he was going, but all of Naruto's friends had caught up and ruined his mantra of directions, puncturing it with introductions and questions. Squeals from girls walking in the halls around them also ruined his concentration. It irritated him a little, but he didn't have to memorise everything on the first day, right? (God, he hoped there weren't pop quizzes today - that would really suck)

Most of the group was quite nice. Shikamaru had only given his name which he had to repeat due a yawn eating his first attempt; Shino was just as quiet (the taller teen gave him a bit of a creepy vibe, if he were honest - perhaps it was the glasses?); Kiba was as loud as Naruto was out of class - he could see they would give him headaches with the amount of energy they stored from merely sitting still in class; Chouji and Shikamaru had a "bromantic relationship" (he had no idea what that meant, so nodded without speaking, filing the term away for later questioning) and the boy had opened up a packet of chips the minute the bell had rung; Hinata was a quiet girl who he almost didn't notice - she seemed to be the odd one out in the group because, despite their quiet natures, Shikamaru and Shino both had clear presences - this girl almost blended into the walls. Then there were Sakura and Ino.

"You're the two from my blog, right?" That sent them into a gush about how he remembered them. By the time they reached the classroom, it had turned into a bitter fight about who he remembered more about even though he hadn't said anything more than that first sentence. The others snickered at his slightly terrified face. Once they entered, the fight became more subdued, leaving the girls to hiss threateningly at each other until the teacher called for silence and they sat in a tense, angry atmosphere for the lesson.

For that class, they had Iruka-sensei. He was a shorter man than Kakashi and far tougher. He yelled a lot and you had to pay strict attention because he had eyes like a hawk - in his first lesson alone three phones were confiscated, two girls told to remove their make-up and four people told to spit out their gum. Naruto paid a bit more attention here. However, the blonde also scribbled a note saying Kakashi was his dad's friend and former student, so wouldn't say anything about his less than stellar attitude towards classwork; Iruka highly respected the teen's father, but didn't believe in not telling Minato and Kushina of their son's poor behaviour. It was definitely a key factor in why his marks in English were his second best next to sports.

They had a short break after and bumped into Neji, Hinata's serious cousin. The long haired teen was about to graduate which Sasuke was glad for; the brunette obviously didn't like him or have much patience for other people, so Sasuke wasn't keen on him in the slightest. His two friends, TenTen and Lee were nice enough, if not albeit overly enthusiastic (due to Naruto's chatterbox mouth, he found out that he and Lee played for the same soccer team). At the rate the blonde spoke, Sasuke had a feeling by the end of the week he was going to know not only Naruto's life story, but the whole school's. He had to admit, it did amuse him a bit; but more than that, it made him proud - he'd never had anyone want to (or be able to) share things with him before so it was quite the achievement that someone actually wanted to talk to him without being told to.

After that, there was a double lesson of art. It was a subject Naruto and the other boys didn't take, but the three girls in the group did. The tables sat four and both Ino and Sakura tried to get the empty seat next to him. Because they were too busy snarling at each other (which he had been assured was in a friendly, rivalry type way), they didn't notice Hinata swoop in and take it. He muttered an embarrassed thank you and she laughed softly, smilingly back in a shy way. Ino won the battle when she took the seat across from him, leaving Sakura to pout all of the lesson, in which they were making clay vases. Their teacher was strict, but nice enough. She explained how she would grade things for him and that the art room was open after school finished, if he needed to catch up or even if he wanted to do extra work or catch up on the rest of the year's work. He was slightly exhausted already and it wasn't even lunch, so he knew he wouldn't stay back today, but if he had no work commitments, he certainly wouldn't say no to having a whole room of supplies available to him. She also explained about the school's art club (he was slightly worried when he saw all three girl's shudder, but assumed it must have just been a breeze from the open window). They must have seen his intrigued look because, once they were left alone, they told him joining that club was the worst thing he could possibly ever do. Ever. After that, there was (what seemed to be, but he highly doubted it) a small explosion from the room next door sounded (which was apparently the art club's space) and sensei left the room in a hurry, heels clacking as she _tsked_.

"And _that _is why you don't join art club." Hinata and Sakura nodded in agreement with Ino's statement and he agreed for the sake of agreeing. (After school, he took Suigetsu in for a peak. Sure enough, the stories were true and the crazy manager, Deidara, actually did blow stuff up on a regular basis. "Art club is fun, un!" He said. "Like Russian Roulette, un", Suigetsu muttered sardonically on their way back to the car, shaking his head at the blonde loonies aesthetics.)

Finally, at lunch time, he had time to give his spinning head a break. Instead of learning about things he covered years ago or listening to girls squeal or Naruto blab on, his new found friends dragged him outside to sit in the garden near the school's entrance. He was allowed to eat in peace. It was the first time he got to speak properly about himself too. Not about work, which he had done a few times in the halls, but about him.

"Nee, what's your family like?"

"My mother, Mikoto, does a lot of charity work. She's also in talks to have her own television talk show produced. My brother and father are nice enough, but they're pretty boring." He smiled and ate another cherry tomato before continuing (he had to keep eating lest Chouji inhale everything in the vicinity). "I have a pet cat, Tobi. He's pretty crazy - we found him on the chandelier once and another time we heard him crying. It turns out he'd gotten stuck in the fridge."

He used to think his life had been nothing but work. He wasn't entirely wrong; a whole lot of it had gone into filming and photo shoots and radio talks and travelling for business and rehearsing and god knows what else he'd done over the years. Sasuke used to think he had nothing to talk about besides work. He could talk about Fugaku and Mikoto and Itachi for hours; heck, he knew enough about Midori and Suigetsu to talk about them for ages too. But about himself? Surely there was nothing that interesting about him, nothing that people would actually ask about and enjoy listening too?

He was wrong. Lunch wasn't about business, it was about him and he was honestly surprised at all the things he could suddenly recall. There was nothing terribly wild or exciting; simple things that most people did like vacations and hobbies and favourite things. Planting the garden, cooking, skiing and surfing from his childhood. Attempting to walk Tobi and running his blog (it was partly work, but occasionally he'd make it personal with birthday wishes for his family or post pictures he drew or about family only things). Out of all the things he spoke about, most of them had been done with Suigetsu; he made a mental note to thank the man again later.

He controlled the conversation, but he wasn't the only one to speak. He liked this type of conversation - it was impromptu and it flowed nicely; you could learn a little about everyone, piece by piece, slowly until you completed a full picture. It wasn't that he had only had scripted conversation's his entire life. It was nice simply to actually have unscripted conversations with things he could relate too; at home, his father and brother talked nothing but business, making him feel stupid and ignorant - here, a quick google search could get him up to speed or he was filled right in - there was no need for him to feel left out. Both he and Shikamaru had family in Nara while he and Chouji had the same type of cake listed in Sakura's friendship list book (he found it odd that someone would create a book which essentially asked people to list their favourites of everything, but he did agree it would be useful for birthday's if you were stuck on a gift). Sasuke felt quite honoured to be asked to fill it out, even though the book had been passed around so much the spine was tattered and there were only a few pages left.

"It doesn't matter that you're a celebrity or not. If you're a nice guy and share the same interests, we're friends, right?"

The comment was made so off handedly and the group just ignored it, but it made Sasuke so happy he hung back behind everyone as they quickly returned to class. His eyes were tearing up and his smile felt so big that he was sure his face was going to crack - he doubted he would ever forget those words and the easy acceptance behind them.

* * *

Ah... He seems a little OOC here, doesn't he? Just nerves and excitement, he'll be back to normal soon haha. Also, I will be putting the next chapter of Home Coming up tonight! Additionally, I'm also starting my Camp NaNoWriMo novel today - its another Naruto fanfic haha. Let me know what you think!


	17. Adoration

He was bored shitless. And shirtless too, because the air-conditioner in the staff room broke. It was the middle of winter, so it shouldn't have been a problem, but considering the amount of staff Konoha Gakuen had, the staff room was _tiny _and it was also full of various machines; a fridge, a bar fridge, two coffee machines, a toasted sandwhich maker, a printer/copier/scanner/monster machine, a paper shredder and an electronic stapler which one of the office ladies had stolen from him because he kept stapling random bits of rubbish together. The room got pretty hot pretty quickly - before lunch, he'd place his shirt back on and decided to patrol campus. Sasuke had a cellphone on him, the office ladies and all of the boy's teachers had his number and Fugaku was on speed dial so he had no reason why he couldn't, but the secretary with horn-rimmed glasses gave him the foulest look when he told her his plans.

He walked around the entrance and admired the gardens before moving to the perimeter. He slowly worked his way closer to the buildings and made faces at some of the students who made eye contact with him. He saw Sasuke in art and heard the explosion. Rushing towards it, a staff member explained about the art club manager and his reckless ways (which was why he tried to convince Sasuke art club was a bad idea but the boy would have none of it; he gave in because, if truth be told; he was curious too). He took the man at his word and kept wandering around aimlessly. Eventually, he spotted some girls in the hallway. They'd snuck out of class to discuss Sasuke and had thought he was a new teacher, come to yell at them. He laughed. He just wanted the bathroom. They were more than happy to help him find his way once he told them Sasuke's favourite meal. Stupid fangirls.

Suigetsu wasn't quite sure how it happened, but he ended up on the roof at one point. He could see the majority of the grounds from his spot and he thought of all the ways enemies could use this place to their advantage. He then reminded himself that, unfortunately, life was not a video game and that stupid crap like that was not going to happen (that didn't stop him from running around quickly to find some wood he could touch to prevent him cursing himself - he certainly wouldn't put it past that bitch Lady Luck). In any case, he watched a large group head towards the gate - leaving school in the middle of the day, not even trying to hide? Ballsy! Then he realised Sasuke was with them and freaked. The young man calmed down a lot when they sat on a table in the shelter of a huge tree. Suigetsu wasn't much of a people watcher normally (why watch the action when you can _be_ the action?) but he was fascinated. This was the boy's show business persona, but there was no business there - he could see the genuine attitude from the roof and that made him smile. He kept watching and grinning like a loony until a bird decided he was a good place to go to the bathroom. Grumbling, he made his way back to the staff room (refusing to admit he got lost, just took a few detours) and used the bathroom there to scrub the mess off.

After waiting a few hours more (pulling faces at Grumbly as he now called the cranky secretary) and then visiting the crazy art nut, they were finally on their way home. He was going to have to go buy manga or something for tomorrow because being at school with Sasuke today was even more boring than school had been for him; he wasn't sure if that was a good achievement or not. Despite his boredom and misfortune, it was most definitely worth it. The entire way home, Sasuke talked. The raven haired teen spoke about his teachers and his classes. He spoke about the crazy fans he encountered who were either stunned and shocked, stopping dead in the hallways or squealing, about as excited as a pig in mud. He muttered about homework and how he wanted to go to art club and a few other ones but didn't know if he was able to commit due to actual work. He was surprised that most students weren't allowed to work while still in school and that some schools didn't even allow dating. Despite the fact the day had been long and he'd already heard it once, Suigetsu listened again, still smiling and paying attention to every detail as Sasuke retold everything to his family (and some curious and happy staff).

He spoke about a lot of things but the topic that made those dark eyes shine the most were his new found friends. The more he spoke, the more he gestured with his hands and smiled. The more he smiled, the more everyone else did too. Before he left for the night, Fugaku thanked him for convincing him to give Sasuke what he wanted. That made him proud; a man of Fugaku's status and power was thanking an idiot like him? It made him grin as widely as Sasuke was (though Sasuke's smile looked a lot more charming than his own goofy grin). Best of all, the boy gave him a hug, still smiling and carrying on, thanking him more than once. Grinning back, he ruffled his hair, returning the hug. It was the little things, the human things, that made the difference, right?

. .

"You've changed this place, you know?"  
"Don't be silly."

"You're the idiot, not me." Harsh, but he couldn't argue either. It was the start of Sasuke's second week at school and he was waiting in the entrance hall. Midori had decided to start a conversation and he had nothing better to do so why not listen (usually he wouldn't because the woman intimidated him, but since Sasuke was supposed to be down the stairs five minutes ago, he figured it'd be short and sweet).

"When the scandal about you and Mikoto broke, I was mortified. I have never hit anyone in my life, but I wanted to beat you black and blue at that moment." Scratch that sweet part out, would you? "But I realised, she wouldn't have put her trust and friendship in you without reason. She wouldn't have entrusted a complete, incompetent stranger with her son and family while she was away without good reason."

So many insults! He was starting to doubt she was as sweet as she acted, almost convincing himself that someone had played a dastardly trick on him and the woman was actually a stuck-up Uchiha in disguise. Midori was peppering the insults with nice words however and he still did need to wait for his (almost about to be late) charge, so Suigetsu kept listening.

"You have something this family needs, Suigetsu. I believe Mikoto had the same thing when she first came, but she forgot how to use it properly. I don't know what it is, but it's special and unique. Not many people are like you." He sincerely hoped there weren't too many shark teethed, bleached, party-hopping people like him around - he was sure he gave children nightmares as it was, let alone if there were a whole army of him. But he understood what Midori was trying to say.

"Keep being who you are. I want you to stay here for a long time; everyone does. Especially Sasuke. You've changed his entire life; if you were to go now, he'd be completely devastated."

The boy in question came rushing down the stairs, trying to shove his blazer on on over the top of his backpack and almost tripping down a few stairs. "I hope you aren't talking about me! I've been sneezing up a storm!" Mikoto called him to get toast and he bolted into the kitchen quickly.

Suigetsu smiled. "I'm not planning on going anywhere for a long time, Midori." She smiled, waving as they left the manor, Sasuke eating the toast quickly after he caught his breath.

The Uchiha household was an interesting place, filled with many secrets and about as many types of people. It would take him a long time to learn everything. For now, he had learnt all he needed to know. He knew he loved the occupants and therefore nothing else mattered.

. .

Nowadays, he spent his day reading (which was usually something he detested) and playing games with teachers on their breaks. Kakashi had told him about a smutty book series which was written in a witty way, making him snicker. It annoyed Grumbly to no end - he'd placed a cover over the book (Kakashi had warned him about the time she'd caught the silver haired man with the book and he didn't want to go through the same), so not only was she incredibly curious about what he was reading (and probably that he could read at all, knowing the insults that flew through her mind) but that she was also missing out on the joke and that he was obviously doing the wrong thing. The door separating them was glass so she would shut that occasionally (meaning the room would become hotter than usual and he'd go read in the grounds or sit on the roof, playing games on his phone), but for the times he stayed there, she could still see him and constantly sent nasty glares over.

Nowadays, Sasuke spoke a bit quieter in the car. He was still happy and excited, but he was also working a bit more now so the work was taking its toll. Plus, exams were coming up so he had more homework and assignments that he cared to do and spent most of the trip doing the work so slowly he might as well be going backwards. Of course, when you said "I did work in the car" a parent will always be proud - he and Sasuke knew perfectly well that 'work' still technically counted as one word, so didn't bother to say how much he'd done.

In the afternoons, they had time for the boy to shower quickly and have a small snack before they were off again. They filmed the brother's show on Saturdays (they were going to take a camera around the school next Thursday and show the clips over a few different episodes) and Sasuke recorded his album on a Monday night. Sasuke had decided not to join a club as the new school year wasn't that far away - instead, he spent Tuesday afternoon's in the art room until 5:30pm, catching up. The three girl's in his friendship circle stayed with him, though the blonde one occasionally had to help out at her family's flower store and the meek one often had a stern older boy come and collect her. Wednesdays were for interviews and photo shoots, Thursdays for any other work and the remainder of the week was for Sasuke to do as he pleased. The good thing was, most weeks he didn't have something on every day and if he did, usually it was only for half an hour or so. Of course, he had school work every night; except for dinner time and occasionally when he travelled, he was never free until after one in the morning, when he usually just crashed into bed. Suigetsu had had to drag him out of the limousine on more than one occasion and carry him to his room, change the boy into his pyjamas and then tuck him in due to him falling asleep (once he'd drawn a moustache on the boy's face because he had the next day off - Sasuke had been less than impressed after failing to get it off after vicious scrubbing but everyone else had given themselves stitches from laughing so much).

As time went by, the cameras came in and out of school. He'd even appeared once when they'd come into the staff room (he hoped it didn't get aired because he doubt Fugaku would appreciate him not wearing his shirt in public - he was tempted to fix the aircon himself, or pay to get it done at least). Every now and then, he'd see Sasuke and/or his friends in class and pull faces at them (a man with a scar across his nose - Iruka, according to Sasuke - had tracked him down and scolded him lightly for his actions, so he stayed away from that area and when he did walk past, he made sure he behaved). A few times, he'd needed to take Sasuke out of class for a quick word or to go home early ("Urgent business, you see, teach") so a lot of the students knew him and waved. A few of them talked to him about his job - they often hung out with him on the roof at lunch time. He snuck into art class with Sasuke (because despite the fact she was older than him, the teacher was kinda hot) and she didn't care if he stayed as long as he was out of her way and quiet (which meant no rude jokes under his breath because she was more than happy to chase him around with a broom). The Japanese teacher, Kurenai-sensei was also a babe, but she was also a pregnant, soon to be married babe with a very protective fiancee, so he stayed well away from both of their classes.

Spring Break was approaching quickly when he and Mikoto had another chance to have afternoon tea together. Sasuke had finished his assignments (though he still had three exams to go) so was taking a well deserved nap. Itachi and Kisame were off following Fugaku around, trying to find Itachi his own 'thing'. They were out in the garden's - thankfully there was no need to rug up anymore. Spring was finally starting to awaken and the garden looked fantastic now that snow wasn't killing the plants and weighing them down.

"How have you been?"

"Fine - Sasuke's basically giving me a second education with the amount of information he tells me." She laughed and he smiled - there really wasn't anything like her laugh. He could see why Fugaku was so protective of her; every hot blooded man would be after her if she was single. It wasn't expressed in quite the same way, but Sasuke often exhibited a lot of his mother's charm. He had enough quirks of his own too - now that he'd been around the boy long enough, he could see why he had so many fans and why the media couldn't understand the charm he had. (Of course, all the girls soon gushed to Sasuke why they loved him and a lot of them told him too, asking him to pass on respect, fan mail, gifts and love letters) All these supposedly stupid teenage girls could see underneath the exterior - they didn't always find out what was under the celebrity persona, but they knew it was something worth caring for. He got to see that and he couldn't agree more - Sasuke certainly was a fascinating and unique individual.

"-Sasuke."  
"What?"

"I've been talking to myself for fifteen minutes, dear. What planet were you just on?" He blushed scarlet and she laughed. "It's interesting that you only come back to the land of the living when I mention my son." He felt the back of his neck get hotter, but he couldn't place why - Mikoto always teased him so why was this different?

"Do you know what I think?" He shook his head, eyeing her wearily. "I think you're in love."

He must have sounded ridiculously stupid when he blurted out "With who?" because she stared at him like he had sprouted a second head. Eventually getting over her shock, she sighed and poured herself more tea.

"Mikoto?" She stirred some sugar and milk in so he tried again.

"It would appear you're just as thick headed as Fugaku is." She sipped daintily from the periwinkle blue cup (personally, this particular tea set was his most hated one - unfortunately it was her favourite). "You, my dear young idiot," What was with these women calling him an idiot all the time? "Are in love with my dearest, most troublesome Sasuke."

Oh. _Oh_. Ohhhh.

He gaped like a fish for a bit, mouth opening and closing without sound. She kept drinking her tea. He improved a bit and spat out the beginnings of many different sentences, never getting more than two or three words in before spluttering and starting again. She ate a scone and two biscuits. In the end, he blushed bright red again and angrily muttered "I hate tea."

She laughed as he kept frowning, the pink roses on the fine china seemingly mocking him with their vibrancy. "So does Sasuke dear." The blush he had just fought so hard to get rid of returned. Even when the tea and food was gone, she kept laughing and he kept imitating a tomato.

If she was going to be this annoying now, he honestly didn't want to see how she'd react if he actually got together with Sasuke.


	18. Relationships

_Feburary Fourteenth, 2013; 7:35 pm_

_*Valentine's Day*_

_Today is Valentine's Day! I've never received a Valentine in real life before, or one from anyone I knew personally - I'm curious if I'll get one today! I've heard today can get pretty crazy in schools, so I hope everyone has a happy and relaxing day - even if you don't have a loved one, at least you'll still have your friends! Every year, my mother makes chocolates for all of us so if you know of someone who might miss out, maybe you could give them tomo-choco?_

_School is going well. I still have my exams to go and I thought I had finished all of my assignments when my art teacher gave us another one! T.T Itachi and I are still enjoying filming too! Also, please look out for my new solo project: my debut album!_

_I hope you all have a wonderful day~_

_Sasuke _

The entry had been spammed with numerous comments from girls saying that they'd be more than happy to give him any type of chocolate (a few messages had also been deleted because they weren't exactly child friendly). Ino and Sakura, who used to be the first two to always comment, were more relaxed now - they got to speak to him five days a week, so they only competition they had for his attention were each other (they would eliminate all other threats together as all good partnerships would). The boys had tried to tell him what a horrible day Valentine's Day would be for him, even going so far in their warnings that they said he should fake sick and stay home. He'd snorted and told them not to be stupid. It was just chocolate giving, right?

Oh how wrong he'd been. Stupid, naive, foolish little Sasuke.

When he arrived at school, he needed to go straight to the office. His locker had already been broken into and filled with gifts - thankfully a kind soul had rescued his belongings and given them to a teacher; now he didn't need to rummage in the metal box to find them so he didn't need to deal with the precarious mess until later. After getting ready, he was constantly harassed as he made his way to class. Girls were constantly shouting and shoving things at him. Upon entering his class room, he called Suigetsu and made him collect the armfuls of gifts he'd already acquired. Suigetsu then proceeded to meet him at every class. Grumbly was sick and the nicer secretary helped the man pack everything into bags and carry them to the car at the end of the day.

What was worse than constant gift receiving and earfuls of "I love you!"'s? The fact he had to reciprocate for every single one of them. People told him he didn't have to, but he should probably give a few a small gift in return or not give any at all, but he thought that was kind of harsh. Most of these girls had slaved away making all of those gifts. Apart from the fact it would be rude not to reciprocate, he didn't have any good excuse. He was rich enough to give them all something and at the very least, it would be good publicity (but he didn't want those reasons to be the only ones reported). These girls had been completely honest with him; they had braved the competition (not to mention Ino and Sakura's glares and poorly veiled threats) and had gained the confidence to speak with him. Most people still saw him as "The Celebrity" and stared at him from afar (which he found kinda creepy) so he was glad they were starting to recover from that now. Even the ones who weren't romantically interested in him gave him _tomo-choco_ (that was another reason he wanted to give back - even though he didn't know them yet, he wanted to be friends with everyone who reached out to him and everyone he reached out to as well).

The girls in his group had given everyone friendship chocolate. Ino gave cute flower ones while Sakura gave hearts. (Both of them also gave him actual Valentine's chocolate too - did that mean he needed to give them two gifts in return?) Hinata's were plain circles, but she used white chocolate and put food colouring in it, giving each person a different colour as well as a small notes made of that colour paper (his went along the lines of "I feel close to you because I could sense how awkward you were when you first came here - I feel like we can grow together and share some of the same experiences - thank you for always been so kind and not forgetting about me!"). He was more than a little surprised when TenTen gave him chocolates as well - he could only remember speaking to her two or three times, seeing her in the halls just a little more than that. He enjoyed hers because she did the colouring thing like Hinata, but her chocolates were shaped like dinosaurs and who didn't like dinosaurs?

While the day was certainly interesting and an eye-opener (he put a rather lengthy entry on his blog along with lots of pictures and thank yous - he also asked what people would want in return, or if they expected anything but made sure to mention he was definitely returning the favour), by day's end, he was more than exhausted. He went to bed after doing his homework but before dinner - he woke up and was disgruntled about the fact he'd have to go _alllll_ the way down stairs for a snack before realising he had mountains of edible gifts at the foot of his bed (thank god Tobi hadn't managed to open them, the cat was known for eating everything it shouldn't). However, that just ended up with him not being able to go to sleep from far too much sugar and being incredibly grumpy the next day.

Life was so hard.

. . .

A few days later (enough so that the whole staff and family were sick of the seemingly never ending piles of chocolate) and they were at the dinner table. Fugaku had been quiet all night, which was odd. Usually he prattled on about business or asked Mikoto about her day and more recently, he'd been asking the boys normal questions rather than how they found work. You could clearly see he had bad news but it was also partly his fault - if it wasn't his fault, he'd tell it as it was; if it was, he'd skirt around the issue for as long as possible. It looked like that time was up.

"Mikoto dear." She raised an eyebrow, already narrowing her eyes at the tone of voice. "We don't have any plans for Wednesday night in three weeks time, do we?"  
"I want to say yes but you've obviously made a plan. What is it?"  
"My mother's coming for dinner."

Oops. Itachi and Sasuke decided to finish dinner early, leaving their half eaten meals at the table (Midori would bring them something later surely). They were barely out of the room before Mikoto started ranting - the agreement between them had always been to let the other have plans on those types of occasions. Mikoto and Ayame had always hated each other with a burning passion, so it was best if they were never together. Whenever Ayame visited, Mikoto would leave the house (she would probably attempt to do so this time too - a sudden family emergency from her side would give her an excuse to go see her parents too); whenever they visited their grandparent's dwelling (Sasuke and Itachi both agreed that place was as far from a home a place could be), Mikoto was suddenly ill. It wasn't the best system and it was bound to fail one day, but until then, it had worked incredibly well for them.

By the time they reached the stairs, Mikoto was in full swing. Apart from the fact their grandmother was visiting, she was visiting purely because of the Suigetsu/Mikoto scandal (which the whole manor had dropped because it was false - why care anymore?). Leaving their mother to fly off the handle and letting their poor father to do with it, they retired to their rooms. Itachi went to study something or another (apparently he had a few 'things' he wanted to try before he decided to settle on one) and Sasuke was off to study. It was probably the sleep deprivation that did it, but he was pretty sure even Tobi was smirking at his misfortune.

. .

_Nee, Sasuke-kun. I'm going to have a party at my place, probably just after Golden Week. Do you want to come? I know its a long time from now, but I figured I'd give you a heads up considering you have work and everything._

He'd given his friends his number and they often stayed up late into the night, texting about garbage and things that were only important to them. He was extraordinarily happy when he received Sakura's message. Up until now, he had to decline all the offers his friends had made him - he was too busy with work or study, but now, he was practically free! He wouldn't tell his father just yet. He'd find out more first, like the date and time as well as what type of party it was and who else was going. He knew he didn't have to tell Fugaku everything and that he did need his own freedom and space to grow, but he knew if he were honest with his dad, they would be able to have a better relationship, one where they actually trusted in each other.

He explained to Sakura he'd talk to his father and couldn't guarantee his attendance, but he would try. By then, his friends knew Fugaku was strict and over-protective of his family - even though they were friends, Sasuke still didn't tell anyone about the time he was hit by his father or how they'd had an incredibly strained relationship for a very long time. Slowly he got the information and noted it all down. Everyone in their group was going, as well as the older trio they knew and some people from the volleyball club (all three girl's were in that particular club and were even on the same team, so they shared a lot of the same friends). It wasn't a huge party, maybe forty or so people at most and would be at Sakura's place. Her father, like Naruto's, was a politician - Sasuke figured he'd be allowed to go because of that alone; surely a politician would make sure there was nothing funny going on in his own house!

But Fugaku saw things differently. He agreed with Sasuke that everything probably would be fine, but he cited safety issues and work as reasons not to go. Fugaku didn't believe it would be appropriate for Suigetsu to go, a) because he wasn't invited and b) because it would seem as though you were being too formal, or worried that something might happen, that you weren't trusting the host to have a safe home. Sasuke could see his reasoning but that didn't stop him from being any less frustrated. He told Sakura that he wasn't allowed to go over a message - he didn't exactly want to say everything in front of everyone else. She understood and said she'd look forward to him being at the next party.

Mikoto, who had been annoyed ever since Fugaku had informed her of Ayame's visit (and forbade her from doing one of her usual disappearing acts) instantly rose to Sasuke's defence. He wasn't sure whether his mother agreed with him or felt the same as Fugaku and just wanted to argue for the sake of arguing. It made him feel a bit guilty for causing a rift between his parents, but it really wasn't his fault. People fought all the time over conflicting views (though he hoped most marital spats weren't over things as petty as a party). When his parents fought, he and Itachi left whatever room they were in and would huddle in one of their own rooms. They weren't used to their parents constantly snarking at each other, so they took comfort in each other (there were times when the couple did quip and snap a lot because they were both too stubborn to back down, but there had never been a full on fight like this before).

It had been a while since they had last spoke, just the brothers together, with nobody hovering around, in a private space all of their own. Sasuke discovered that the 'thing' his brother had decided to pursue was law - he wanted to fight for people, much like Mikoto. He had decided he would be one of those lawyers who doesn't charge, or charges only the absolute barest minimum in order to help people who normally couldn't afford it. He wasn't quite sure what area he wanted to specialise in yet, but there was plenty of time to sort that out. He was going to go to Tokyo University, starting in the spring, so he could still work and be close to home (Sasuke wasn't sure what living in a dorm would be like, but he did know he didn't want his brother to move out - that had already been decided though, so Itachi laughed at his pout and ruffled his hair, glad his brother was still young enough to care that much).

Sasuke filled him in on school and on the friends he'd made. If only for the reason he'd be able to make friends, he was glad Itachi was going to university. Knowing what it was like to be able to message people and laugh and complain about things to people who weren't obligated to talk to you was something special - he couldn't remember how he felt before it, but when he thought of what how he'd feel if it were all just suddenly ripped away from him, he felt dark and icy and that terrified him. He didn't want him to go away and only see him occasionally, but if that was how it was going to be, they'd have to find other ways to keep in touch. Itachi needed a chance to see the world and grow, just like he had. All he wanted was for Itachi to be as happy as he was now.

* * *

Just curious. This is AU, but do you think Sasuke is OOC? From what we see in the show, he was a kind and bright little kid - like he is here. But do you classify AU as to the show's current personality or because this is set in a "family wasn't slaughtered" world, does that still make him in character?

Anyway, let me know how you like the chapter. Faves and stuff are cool too.


	19. Reality

Spring Break had come and gone incredibly quickly. Sasuke had spent most of the time with his friends, Suigetsu tagging along depending on where they went (video arcades he was cool with, but going to the cinemas when the girls choose a chick flick? Not so much). The boy came back every day with stacks of photos and souvenirs and _purikura_ to show off and brag about. Occasionally, he got to do certain activities a few times. For the show, Itachi and Sasuke had to go and talk to people about their plans for the break and went and saw the _sakura_. Suigetsu was invited to come along to the Uchiha family's _hanami_ and was dragged along by Sasuke again when he went with his friends.

Fugaku had to go and sort some things out with the businesses he ran (because he'd apparently fired a bunch of idiots) so he ended up being gone for a week. Itachi fell ill a few days after he left. All work was postponed as he wasn't getting better too quickly (he was still sick the week back Sasuke returned to school), though the family doctor said it wasn't anything he needed to be rushed to hospital for. Suigetsu and Sasuke both doubted that, not just because of the stern talking to Mikoto had given the man, nor the very angry phone call she'd given Fugaku, but also the fact that if Itachi was ill enough not to work, he had to be in his room, resting. But despite the fact they'd scoured the manor (and been yelled at more than once for it, to the point where Sasuke had started yelling back) they hadn't found the elder brother once. They hadn't even seen Kisame (Suigetsu had bullied a few people into seeing security tapes which proved the man was still entering the manor every day - he wasn't allowed to see any more tapes than those belonging to the main entrance, which slowed their search). That just raised more questions - he didn't need to come in if there was no work (which there wasn't) unless he was invited (which was probable) but where the hell was he? Did Itachi need protection for some reason? Mikoto, who wasn't happy with them not knowing, but not wanting to tell them either (or was she not allowed to tell?), decided to take their minds off things.

She'd organised things with the parent's of Sasuke's friends. Not just permission, but times and hotels as well. She seemed worried that her offer would be refused, but how many parent's would ignore an invitation of an all-expenses paid trip to Disney Land? For the first day, they went to Disney Sea, which was more for the parents, allowing them to get to know each other better, but again, free trip, no complaints. The night was spent in the hotel out front of Disney Land; the large group watched the fireworks together and the brats stayed up well past bed time.

He was sure he could probably think of others, but he felt as though the day at Disney Land had been the longest, most exhausting one in his life. Sasuke had never been to Disney Land, nor had many of the others, so they were full of energy and excitement - too much so in his opinion. Unfortunately, the parental units agreed with him and made him follow their children, taking the day at a much slower and more relaxed pace. Sadistic bastards.

While it was torture, incredibly long and painful, he couldn't deny that it was fun as well. Space Mountain was his favourite (it was this ride that made him discover Sasuke hated roller coasters and that they made him scream like a girl) while he thought Splash Mountain was a bit of a letdown. He was pretty sure Big Thunder Mountain was in his top three favourite rides but he and Sasuke disagreed on whether the better eatery was the one near Space Mountain or the Alice in Wonderland themed restaurant. While they bickered over that, everyone in their group was equally confused about the easter eggs around the park (he ended up googling the holiday of Easter and explaining it to everyone - which helped lessen the confusion). There were numerous demands to watch the parade and he made Sasuke wear Mickey Mouse ears as well as ridiculous glasses so random fans would stop harassing the boy for photographs. They didn't have time to try a few of the rides, but since they'd already seen the fireworks the night before, they got to use that time for a bit of quiet shopping before the crowds rushed to buy before closing time.

It wasn't the longest holiday and they hadn't been dreaming about it for ages. There was still a lot of things that they didn't get the chance to do or would have done differently. But now, Mikoto having confidence in the families and Sasuke knowing his friends more, there would always be a next time.

. .

She hated prying into people's business. If they wanted to tell you something, they would; if they thought it was none of your business but you kept prying, you'd only put a strain on the relationship by harassing them. But sometimes, even when people wanted to say things, they couldn't. In Itachi's case, he was still intimidated (frightened was probably a better word) by Fugaku (though it was plain to her that he really meant the rest of the family, more specifically Madara). Sasuke didn't have anything to tell just yet, but she had a feeling that would soon change.

Relationships would be a problem for the boys, she'd known that from the beginning. Fugaku was strict and old-fashioned, though considerably less so compared to the rest of his family. Her own family was much more relaxed, which she was thankful for, otherwise her boys would have had no hope in the love department. Uchiha's were usually involved in arranged marriages but the thought of signing her children's happiness away just for business or an alliance with another family made her stomach crawl.

Mikoto knew Fugaku wouldn't approve. How on earth was he supposed to have grandchildren if both his children were gay? Itachi was obviously homosexual, so Sasuke would be pressured into 'following the right path'. She wanted grandchildren to, but not at the expense it would need. She hadn't even meant to find out about the relationships (she still wasn't sure where Sasuke sat yet, so she would need to keep observing until she found out more) but now that she knew, Mikoto was determined to find a way to keep both her sons happy. For that to happen, she needed to find a way to make Fugaku accept them and their life choices without yelling at him (something she was doing far too much these days) and to keep those interfering in-laws out of the loop.

At that moment, Midori came to collect her. "Ayame is here." She nodded and the girl left after a moment, not sure whether to stay for support or not; Mikoto sat still - the bitch could wait another five minutes.

. .

The dining room was incredibly tense as they waited for Mikoto. He and Itachi sat quietly next to each other, while his grandparents and father spoke quietly amongst themselves. The last time Sasuke could remember the tension in the room being like this was when his father had hit him a few months ago. He'd never really felt awkward around his grandmother, or intimidated by her. He knew she had a vicious tongue and a cunning mind, but she barely reached his shoulder and was always dwarfed by the thick jackets and furs she wore. His grandfather was much the same - quiet, calm and tiny, but could have a complete change of attitude in under a minute if something displeased him.

Eventually, Mikoto sauntered in. Clearly she'd been taking her own time to annoy Ayame. Nobody was surprised by the attitude, nor Ayame's eye roll and heavy _tsk_. "It's about time you got here, _girl_."  
"Considering I live here, I've been here the entire time, _granny._"

Dinner was brought out immediately after Mikoto sat. The meal was traditional, with rice and fish and green tea. It was delicious, but Sasuke couldn't enjoy it as he was nervously watching the women in the room, waiting for the onslaught to begin. But dinner came and went in what was (surprisingly) a very silent affair. Small talk resumed before dessert was brought out. Again, the meal was quiet, both brother's commenting quietly on how nice the food was in an attempt to start a civil conversation. Needless to say they failed miserably. Once the dishes were cleared, the group decided to have tea in the garden.

Sasuke groaned, receiving Itachi's elbow in his ribs as a warning. He _hated_ tea. He'd had more than enough for one night! Apart from the fact he was going to be bullied into drinking more tea, he had to spend time with his grandparents (and try and keep his smart arse responses to himself when the blood bath began) when he should have been doing homework. Instead of one of his mother's tea sets being brought out, an old white set was brought out. It had been his grandparent's wedding gift to his parents and it was ugly as all sin. Mikoto glared disdainfully at it, her nose flaring while Ayame seemed to take satisfaction in the hatred.

The tea was poured and the air remained insult free for about five minutes. All the males present cringed at Ayame's harsh claim about the scandal, Fugaku even warning her to watch herself. Mikoto merely flipped back a casual comment; not only was she married with a still active sex life (Sasuke spat out his tea while Itachi choked on his), it was also rumoured she had an extra affair - Ayame probably couldn't dream of getting that much action in her lifetime!

The screaming match began. Sasuke tried to cover his ears but Itachi elbowed him again. Ayame yelled about how Mikoto had tarnished the Uchiha name, dishonouring the family with her wiles and common ways. Mikoto responded with a few choice swears about how the Uchiha were stuck up and arrogant and that everyone knew the family was rife with scandal. Ayame countered with the disservice she was doing to her children. Mikoto replied with how Ayame had never cared for her own children, never mind her grandchildren and that she actually raised her boys rather than being impersonal and hiring a nanny.

Fugaku and his father tried to calm them down many times and they failed just as many times. The siblings just sat with their heads down, letting the words and screeches fly over their heads. Eventually, they did settle, both still fuming and spitting out the odd insult but considerably calmer. (If he were honest, he had been somewhat hopeful that his mother would have slapped his grandmother due to some of the retorts the old hag had spat out but he was left disappointed.)

Fugaku cleared his throat. "Now that you're done," Two sets of angry eyes glared at him, Mikoto growled while Ayame hissed threateningly - he had to hand it to his father though, he ignored them (though he twitched a little in nervousness) and kept talking. "We have one more topic we need to discuss. From what we have found, this rumour, because that is what it is mother, a rumour, nothing more and nothing less, was started by one of our own."

"And you think we may know who did it, Fugaku?"  
"I would like to hear your ideas at the least, father."

The only sounds were the still harsh breathing of the women and the wind blowing through the plants, rustling the garden into a unique melody.

"Why would anybody want to make a rumour about you? It's a cliche and tacky one to say the least, plus Mikoto is a _bore_ while the guard-"  
"Is incredibly loyal and outgoing. I don't care _why_ they did it; I just want to know _who_ so I can give them a piece of both my mind and fist." Glaring at each other, they both went silent, again leaving the wind to be the long noise maker.

"I would suggest that you ask Madara."  
"Would he not have taken action by now?"  
"That is another thing you should ask him, if he agrees to be your audience."

Not much more discussion was made. Conversation was limited to stunted small talk before their elderly guests left. It was quite clear to their part of the family that Ayame and her husband knew more than they were letting on. It was also clear that the two women still hated each other. By the end of the evening, they didn't know anything more than what they previously had and the only way to find out more was only going to be available in the slim chance Madara was in a good mood when he spoke to them.


	20. The Festivities Begin

"A party?"  
"Mm, at Sakura's house."  
"She your girlfriend?"

"Don't be stupid!"

He couldn't help but laugh at the blush on Sasuke's face as he spluttered and tried to explain she was just a friend. He found it adorable. Relief flooded over him too - for a long while now, he'd been keeping track of the blog and knew about Sakura and Ino, purely from their enthusiastic endeavours online - Suigetsu honestly wouldn't have been surprised if one of them had managed to sink their claws in (in a perfectly nice way - by now he knew that they weren't just crazy obsessed harpies). Normally, whenever he liked someone (in "like" with them, not in lust) someone always came and swept them off their feet just as he was about to confess. It wouldn't kill him (he'd booze up and all, but he wouldn't pull a depression fit a la Twilight's Bella) if someone did that to Sasuke, but by now, he was pretty damn sick of it and certainly wouldn't back down.

Half of the problem with that was he didn't know where Sasuke stood. He wasn't homophobic, but that didn't mean he was gay or bisexual either. Suigetsu knew he was classified as a friend, but was it friendship as in the platonic type, the "I want to be more" type or (worst of all) the "I want to be more but it wouldn't possible work out/I can never say it" type? Not to mention it was kind of an iffy situation: it wasn't illegal for him to be with Sasuke, but there was still the age gap and the fact he was employed by the family - just because Mikoto had okayed it didn't mean everyone would react the same way. Sasuke was still prattling about the party and his friends but he only listened half-heartedly. He could argue or flirt his way out of any situation but this one had him stumped. How on earth was he supposed to get the brat to hear his feelings and get him to feel the same way?

"I'm greatful I'm allowed to go to school now, but I wish dad would relax a bit and let me make some of my own decisions. I know absolutely nothing would happen at the party, but he's too uptight and paranoid to listen to reason - it's not like the party or my attendance is being publicised online or anything."

"I'll cover for you." The words were out of his mouth before he knew it. He thought the hopeful look on Sasuke's face was adorable, but he was also mentally kicking the shit out of himself for suggesting something so dumb.

The cute face fell quickly. "I'd love to take you up on that, but I don't want to go behind his back. More importantly, you could lose your job and I really don't want that."

_Oh thank god! _Suigetsu told him it was a stupid idea and he shouldn't have suggested it but if he still wanted to, he would cover for him (just so he didn't think he was backing out of the plan or anything). At least one of them had a good head on their shoulders, or they'd both be screwed.

The topic changed and they discussed various things from Sasuke's almost on top of them exams to the just finished spring break to up and coming Golden Week to work and entertainment. He wasn't actually needed today, but Sasuke had invited him over to play video games (he'd wanted to invite his new friends over too, but decided not to push it with such short notice - the close group had made a plan to visit for after the new school year began). The family was becoming closer and more relaxed, but it was still plain to see that everyone, Fugaku included, were walking on eggshells. While the family and their mission to become a proper family again was important to him, Sasuke was his top priority. It wasn't just the fact that he was crushing or that it was his job to keep him safe, but he was curious.

Sasuke was a young man who had everything he could dream of at his disposal - most people would kill for that type of life. He needed to work hard and had many different people close to him in numerous industries. He was intelligent, decent enough at sports (well, he didn't fall over his own feet every five minutes at least), could sing and was attractive. But there was a whole part of the world he didn't know for no reason at all. An education had given him a new lease on life. Sasuke had become incredibly curious himself in the last few weeks. All thanks to being stuffed in a classroom five days a week and forced to do work that was boring and dull, Sasuke had been given a chance at normality, given a chance to try new and interesting things. Why was something so basic, so amazing and new to a boy who should have had everything?

. .

The end of the school year had come upon them much more quickly than any of the students wanted. Exams were done in silence, each student wishing they were over quickly, so they could enjoy the sunshine and go play video games and have coffee at Starbucks. Once exams were over, there was a short lived celebration - finally, the holidays were here! But with each day that went by, it meant another day closer to receiving exam results, making everyone nervous (unless you were the lazy genius Shikamaru, or someone who had spent weeks on end studying like Neji). Their small group attended the graduation ceremony of their seniors - most of the boys wore suits or their winter uniform while the girls wore kimono. After that, it was a night of karaoke and all you can eat at the local Korean restaurant!

Holidays would last three weeks, but for Sasuke, that meant catching up and getting ahead of all his out of school work. He attended a few charity meets and fundraisers with Mikoto, finalised everything for his album, signed up to star in a drama for a few episodes, discussed movie roles and did numerous interviews and photo shoots. In the three weeks off, he only had three days and that was because he came down with some type of spring flu. Trust his luck!

Itachi had started university on the same day he started school. However, they had their entrance ceremony the day before class started - Tokyo University didn't believe on missing classes or cutting them short. Both siblings were happy about that - Itachi was nervous enough as it was (though he vehemently denied it) and Sasuke was glad he was going to be able to see his brother's entrance ceremony. Even though he had missed all of the entrance exams, it was well known Itachi was a child prodigy and genius in addition to being a celebrity so no intelligent institution would have turned him down. Sasuke wasn't sure if he wanted to go to university or not; he'd take the exams and all (if he decided to partake in a degree) but he liked being on camera; he didn't like the strict rigmarole and he hated his every move being watched, but most days he enjoyed it. But he still had a few months to ponder that, so for now, Sasuke would let it lie in peace.

The school year started again on the first of April. His family attended the ceremony because they apparently enjoyed boring talks by boring old men (Itachi's first class wasn't until one in the afternoon so he was able to attend). The students had to wear their formal uniforms to the event, which made them ridiculously hot, thus less inclined to listen. After the ceremony was over, all the parents left (along with his camera crew too) and it was time to go to class. Despite the fact it was a Monday morning and the first day of the year, somehow he had ended up with maths as his first class. Double period too. Curse his luck again!

The first week went by quickly enough. No assignments or exam mentions yet, but plenty of homework and reading to keep them busy (and panicking if they were type to do it the day before it was due, like a certain blonde and dog lover). On the weekend of the second week back, his friends came over to the manor. His father was away, but they met his brother and Mikoto was glad to see them again. The day was spent showing off the house and playing video games while Mikoto provided food in the garden as well as plenty of embarrassing stories much to the delight of his friends. The weather was nice enough as well, so they spent a portion of the day swimming in the pool as well - it was an indoor pool technically, but the walls surrounded it were glass and the roof had large coloured cutouts so the room below was bathed in various colours.

The month went by fast and Golden Week was upon them (he had honestly hoped his time at school would last longer, but the saying "time flies when you're having fun" seemed to be true here). Golden Week was one of his favourite times of year - it wasn't just that most people refrained from working as much as they could within the holiday, it was the variety of things that it stood for and the things you could do during it.

Some of the days weren't technically a holiday, but many students feigned sick without repercussions - it was called Golden _Week_ after all. For the days that weren't holidays, Sasuke and Itachi filmed parts of their show and were in meetings regarding it. For three days, they travelled to Fukuoka in the south of Japan. It was a large port side city which was very modern, but had many traditional areas as well. Many of the shrines in the area were related to the ocean and fishing - Suigetsu enjoyed them a lot, as it reminded him of home. But the main reason they were there was because of Golden Week - Hakata had the largest Golden Week celebrations in the country, with more than two million people attending and it certainly didn't disappoint.

There was a large, brightly coloured parade which went for hours, three days straight, containing singers, dancers and various traditional aspects such as clothing, music and other arts. There were dragons made of paper, weaving through the streets, and buses with sponsor logos and Pokemon plastered on the sides. (Speaking of Pokemon, he'd demanded they go to the Pokemon Centre, conveniently located above the main train station, to try and find a Charmander plushie - it was the only one of the original three starters that he hadn't managed to collect despite his efforts - there was one left, but he felt the six year old girl who reached it at the same time deserved it more - he felt like kicking himself for that.) All of the temples were full and bustling, _miko_ rushing to and fro to collect more charms and helping out the priests; the parks (and random streets) were filled with stalls, which held everything from food (corn and cucumber on sticks, cheese balls, fairy floss, candied apples and more) to raffles (Itachi won a PSP and gave it to a random kid; Sasuke had only won a pathetic fan, though it had proved useful for giving people a good whack) to music and protestors/awareness groups as well as mask stalls (Mikoto had been dismayed when both her boys came back with Pikachu masks). On top of this, there were games were you could win various prizes (between the two brothers, they returned home with six fish and a turtle).

There was never a dull moment in Hakata - even if you weren't participating in the festivities, there was so much more you could do. In the main shopping centre, there was an entire floor covered in ramen restaurants (aptly named "Ramen Stadium") and there was also a foreign circus that appeared on the day before they left (it wasn't a circus so much as an acrobatics show, but it was still interesting to watch). Sasuke was also harassed by some mimes dressed as clowns - they made him wear a red nose, took a photo with his phone, bowed and left. He still had no idea what that had meant. People were walking around with bags of shopping, taking full advantage of the sales, especially those on yukata and kimono - most came in casual wear and left in traditional clothing, to fully be a part of the festivities.

While travelling and experiencing new things was nice, there was nothing quite like being in the tried and tested festivities of home. Tokyo was bright enough and there was just as much, if not more to do here than in Hakata (plus, there were less tourists and foreigners who had no clue what they were doing). Sasuke caught up on school work on one day and for the rest, he hung out with his friends. Suigetsu accompanied them most days - Golden Week was always busy, so there was the extra need for safety (Sasuke couldn't help but feel guilty - for both Christmas, New Years and Golden Week too, Suigetsu had stayed with him rather than going home - surely his brother must miss him?). His friends loved him; the man was only a few years older than them and sometimes acted younger than they were, so he fit right in with his sarcasm and laid back attitude.

But something was bothering him. Every time Suigetsu paid someone else more attention, he became incredibly mad. He didn't show it to anyone because he had no idea what was riling him up. From what he could understand from his mess of emotions, Sasuke thought nobody else _deserved him_ - he still had no idea what that meant. Sasuke found himself walking right next to his guard at all times (surely nobody would think anything odd of it as Fugaku's strict rules and safety standards were well known - again though, why did it matter if people thought oddly of his behaviour? He and Suigetsu were friends as well!) and he occasionally talked over people when he felt they got _too friendly_ with the man (he had to stop himself from doing so more frequently than he expected). By the end of the holidays, he was almost ready to lock himself in the house and make Suigetsu stay with him all day everyday. His mother had heard him muttering and snorted at his attitude, calling him a "drama queen on par with a teenage girl" - way to boost the spirits, Mum.

. .

It was the beginning of June and the work was already piling up. There were various assignments to scribble out, too much to read, too many activities to do daily and far to much revision material for the exams that were still another month away. Sakura's party was that night; a Friday night after the week from hell (considering the state of the entire art building after Deidara had being too enthusiastic, it had almost literally looked like it with the monster flames). Fugaku still hadn't budged on his stance though it seemed like he was doing it more because he didn't want to admit he was wrong, didn't want to be seen as 'weak' for changing his mind (everyone knew it was stupid, Fugaku knew most of all, but it was just the way he was and old habits and pride were hard to break, even if they were petty).

"If you want to go that badly, I'll cover for you. It was stupid for me to suggest it before, because I could lose my job and you could be in danger. I honestly blurted it out last time. I didn't want to do it then and I don't particularly want to do it now. But I don't wanna watch you mope around all the time either. I can't even count the number of times I snuck out when I was younger, not that its a good thing to do or anything, but you certainly wouldn't be the first to do it."

"It seems like a pretty stupid thing for you to do…"

"That's because it is." Usually, when he and Suigetsu spoke nowadays, Sasuke didn't look at him properly - when he felt angry, his cheeks always heated up and they did that whenever he spoke to Suigetsu, but he wasn't mad. He wasn't embarrassed either, so he had no idea what the heck they were doing. "But hey, I want you to be happy. I wanna do this for you. If you wanna go, let's go. I've got a plan."

"Is it a good one?"

He got a shark like smirk in response. "Well, we'll just have to wait and see if we get caught before we can answer that, yeah?"

He smirked back - there was nothing he enjoyed more than a challenge.

* * *

Early update this week. Also, Hakata is amazing. Charmander is a bitch to find - I lived in Japan for five months and only found one - which I gave to my friend. Being nice sucks sometimes. Next update will be in two weeks.


	21. The Partys Over

Mikoto had invited him to stay for dinner and he graciously accepted. Afterwards, Sasuke walked him to the door - his day was finished so there was no point staying. Sasuke had a party to get to, so he wasn't staying either. The boy snuck into the back seat of his car (though he did make more than one quip asking if the beat up bomb would actually run) and hid under a blanket he kept there. Once they were a good ten minutes away, he crawled into the front seat. The duo grinned and high fived, before Suigetsu started driving again and Sasuke fixed his barely mussed hair in the smashed mirror.

Twenty minutes later, they had arrived. Suigetsu dropped him off, grinning but told him to call him if he need _anything_. He received an eye roll in response. Once Sasuke was in the door, Sakura hugging him happily, her mother nodding to him from just behind her, he drove off, beeping the horn a few times. He'd be back in two hours to pick him up and sneak him back in - that was going to be the tricky part as Sasuke was supposed to be "sick" (or had they decided he was doing homework? He honestly couldn't remember but he was pretty sure the raven haired boy had put some type of "Do Not Disturb" sign on his door).

An hour later, he was sitting in front of Starbucks in his car, some type of stupidly named drink in his hand, music lightly playing, reading some more stupid smut. When his phone buzzed, his stomach dropped. The music was switched off and the book thrown to the side. In his haste to answer, he didn't even notice the caller ID.

"H-Hello?"  
"You sound nervous, boy." Oh shit. It was Fugaku. He'd told Sasuke he'd planned for this, but really, he hadn't and now he was practically pissing himself.  
"Not at all!" His weak laughed betrayed his feelings. "How can I help, sir?"  
"Where's my son?"

A variety of curses ran through his mind and he was positive the man could hear the frantic beating of his heart. "Isn't he at home?"

"He should be. Mikoto saw he was 'ill' so made him some hot coco. It's now going cold and she's crying, frantic, wondering where he is. If he's sick, he shouldn't be able to get too far, don't you agree?"

"Of course."

"We looked at the security cameras, you know how we're still figuring out that stalker issue, right?" The words rolled out of the other man's mouth so _casually_ but you could hear the poison as clear as day beneath them.

He stuttered an affirmative response but he was kicking himself internally. Of course he hadn't forgotten. Had he underestimated the threat? Probably - but that was him, cocky and arrogant, fixing violence with violence. He was still figuring out the ways of high society. Those ways meant security was intense nowadays. The stalker been writing creepy things on the blog and had even being sending parcels, which ranged from gifts, nice things like chocolates and CDs to horrors such as bottles of rat poison and blood covered knives. It wasn't an 'issue', it was a serious problem. The police were involved and he'd taken to following Sasuke to every class, no matter who the teacher was. There was a guard on the roof, one in the staff room, two patrolling the grounds and two more in separate cars close by. Sasuke had no clue - well, he supremely doubted that, but he didn't know the full extent of the problem at least.

It was honestly a dumb thing for Suigetsu to do, suggesting for him to leave the manor, then helping him do it. And he didn't have a good reason. There was a threat and he ignored it (well, thought he could beat it his own way, which was a no-no). He was going to have to deal with what he'd done, as was Sasuke.

Fugaku was still talking however, so he would have to bash his head against a wall later. "We saw him leave with you." Both parties were silent. Fugaku continued as Suigetsu wasn't going to say anything, the nerves and guilt eating at him. "Was that a blanket he hopped under?" He put his head back against the head rest, eyes closing. _Fuck_. He stayed silent. "Where is he?"

"I'll go get him."

"No." He'd never heard the man so stern before. If it wasn't already obvious that he'd crossed the line, that was the confirmation. "You will come here _immediately_ and _we_ will get him. You obviously cannot be trusted. Is that understood?"

"…Yes sir."

"Do not even _think_ about messaging Sasuke either. Do not think that I won't find out if you do, boy. You are henceforth banned from speaking to him. Is that clear?"

"…Yes sir."

"Then this conversation is over." The phone went dead. Automatically, he shut his phone and fully turned on the car. He was half way to the Uchiha manor before he realised he was crying.

. .

"This is the correct address and phone number?"  
"Yes sir."

"I'll be on my way then." It was rare for Fugaku to drive anywhere by himself, but the situation called for it. Suigetsu had no doubt Sasuke was in for more than an earful on the drive home.

"After tonight, you will not return here again. Anything owed to you will be payed tomorrow and after that, I demand that you cease all contact with my family. From now on, you no longer work for us. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir."

He'd never felt more defeated in his life. He stared blankly at the floor, hearing rather than seeing Fugaku leave, slamming his office door behind him. When he had entered the room, Fugaku had launched into a triad. He hadn't ben able to listen, his ears felt as though he were underwater, but he heard things like "pathetic", "failure", "disgusting". Fugaku said the worst, but Mikoto's disappointed eyes reflected it in a way that stabbed him: "I trusted you".

As her husband raged at him, she stared at him. She didn't agree nor disagree and neither she nor Itachi interfered; they both watched silently. The emotions he could feel and see from their body language and the distress he could hear in Fugaku's tone made him feel more pathetic and lowly than he had ever felt in his life.

As he decided to leave, turning for the door, Itachi approached him. "Father will calm down." He looked up at the elder brother - what did he think? He'd practically sent his precious brother into a hugely risky situation - surely he was disgusted? "When he does, I'll call you. You'll be able to return to work then."

By the time a tiny smile had twitched onto his face, Fugaku was yelling again. He'd returned silently having forgotten his glasses, still fuming.

"How _dare_ you decide what happens in this house! He has put not only Sasuke at risk, but the entire family! He cannot trust him and I will not do so on your judgement! That is the end of the matter and you will head to your room!"

"But father-"

"_Immediately, _Itachi! And as for you," He whipped around to look at Suigetsu, who had already returned to staring at the floor, not wanting to face more disappointment. "You will leave immediately and never return. Understood?"

A brisk nod and a "yes sir" and he was gone, squeezing past Fugaku like the head of family was a hell hound. Itachi slinked off to his room as well. Fugaku snatched his glasses from the desk and exited again, slamming the door behind him once more, leaving Mikoto alone in the suddenly cold and too quiet office. She hugged herself tightly, begging the tears not to fall.

Fugaku was right to yell, to be furious. Itachi was wrong to try and encourage the man. Suigetsu should have known better. _Sasuke_ should have known better. But it wasn't entirely his fault either - he didn't know the danger he was in because Fugaku held too many secrets. Too many lies and whispers had ruined this family before and it was doing it again now. Before, it was them ruining each other. This time it was their most trusted staff member unravelling their trust in one another.

It hurt her to see Suigetsu so low, being yelled at so viscously. Mikoto wanted to hold him, tell him it would be okay. But she couldn't guarantee that. She didn't particularly want to either. He'd done what he thought was best for Sasuke and she agreed whole-heartedly that going to the party and socialising was a wonderful thing - after all, it was part of the reason they'd allowed him to go to school, the reason why Itachi was going to university. But Sasuke could have been in incredible danger, he might be _in_ incredible danger. Suigetsu hadn't thought about the consequences of his actions (she didn't need to remind herself that Sasuke hadn't either - she knew Fugaku would be stern with him, but she was going to lay down the line as well). Suigetsu had a strict job description which he clearly hadn't followed.

With such a blatant disregard for the rules and her families safety, Mikoto felt as though she couldn't trust him. She knew Suigetsu knew he'd disappointed her. But she was also incredibly saddened. She adored him, much like a third son and she honestly would have loved seeing him and Sasuke together for a long time to come, even if it was just as friends. His actions felt like a personal attack on her; on her rules, on the way she raised her children, on her beliefs… Realistically, it was just him wanting to let Sasuke have fun, not anything deep or personal but emotions weren't rational and knowledge wouldn't change the hurt she felt.

All she could do now was hope Sasuke was okay. He'd need to be spoken to and punished and after that… well, it felt like the family would be back at square one, snapping and glaring, not trusting each other. All that hard work, done for nothing.

_Don't worry, if things don't work out, I'll just thump it into their heads!_

She heard Suigetsu's voice in her head, remembering the times they drunk tea and how she teased him, how he always made her feel better and gave her honest advice, regardless of what she may think about his blunt words. Her tears felt hot against her skin as she bawled, shaking in the dark room.

. .

Her parents were upstairs, giving them enough privacy while they laughed amongst themselves downstairs. Her father had a camera installed in the lounge room, so he could supervise from where he was but her friends didn't need to know that. She'd told Sasuke that a week earlier, hoping to get a proper answer for him - that must have been the reason why Fugaku had allowed him to come tonight. The raven haired boy was on the other side of the room to her, speaking to some guys from the soccer team. He'd flitted around the room, speaking to everyone for long enough to be seen as friendly, but not staying with anyone in particular for a extended amount of time. Sasuke stayed with their group the most (and by that Sakura meant Hinata, Shino and Shikamaru - they were quiet, but still decently involved with what was happening rather than being in the middle of the impromptu dance floor). Sasuke helped bring food and drink out when they ran out and he'd been incredibly polite to her parents when he'd arrived. He'd shown up late, making everyone believe he wouldn't show up, but he'd arrived in the end, so that was all that mattered.

That's what she had thought before she heard the heavy thuds on the front door, loud enough to be heard over Ayumi Hamasaki's latest tunes. Naruto narrowed his eyes at her, while she shrugged. Motioning to him to turn the music down but giving Shikamaru a look that clearly said _he_ was in charge, Sakura made her way to the door.

"Hello?"  
"Is Sasuke here?"  
"Does he need to go early?"  
"He wasn't allowed to attend in the first place."  
"Oh…"

Her stomach dropped. Had Sasuke not been still the whole night due to nerves? Had he been waiting for his act to end, to be caught out and dragged home? She knew Fugaku was strict, knew he'd originally said no to him coming tonight, but did his attitude run deeper than that, making Sasuke want to rebel? Or was he just a bratty celebrity who wanted to cause a scandal (she hated herself for thinking that and shook her head instantly).

Fugaku was still looming in her doorway. "Girl."

Her head snapped up. "I'll go get him right away, sir." He nodded stiffly, arms crossed across his chest, keys grasped so tightly in his hand that the skin was going white.

Returning the party, everything was normal. Nobody was holding their breath or staring towards the door with morbid curiosity. Nobody had even noticed that she'd left. Except for Sasuke. Stalking over to him, she dragged him away from two of the newest additions to the volley ball club, saying she wanted a quick moment to talk about homework. Everyone who heard laughed - yeah, it was a Friday night, at a party specifically meant to distract them from the horrid h-word and she wanted to talk about _school_ with the hottest guy around. Suuuuure. She couldn't have cared less - it was no more of a blatant lie than "we need more drinks". She knew what people would think but it was better than embarrassing Sasuke in front of everyone.

Shutting the kitchen door behind her she quickly told Sasuke what had happened, still moving through the room and out the door on the other side. Back down the hall and past the party that was blaring on the other side of the wall. Sasuke had gone pale, much more than normally. Sakura rubbed his arm nervously, whispering a "sorry" as Fugaku appeared in their vision. The man narrowed his eyes, tightening his stance even more. She let him go as they reached the threshold.

"Uh, thanks for having me tonight, Sakura. I appreciate it."

"No worries. Um, I hope next time…" Fugaku glared at her and she glared back - no need to be rude to _her_, she didn't know after all! "Next time will be on better terms, yeah?"

"Sounds good."

Fugaku grunted and muttered a thank you before grabbing Sasuke by his collar and dragging him to the fancy black sports car parked out front. She waved, though neither Uchiha were looking and she shut the door with a sigh. Turning around, her parents were standing behind her, Naruto, Shikamaru and Hinata standing at the end of the hall. Whenever anything happened - they were always the ones who relayed the news back to the group; friendly, intelligent and respectful, they got the whole story out in the right way. Though today, she hoped a single word wouldn't be told to the rest of the party goers.

"What was that about, dear?"

"He snuck out. Wasn't allowed to come apparently."

Hinata nodded - her father was like that so she could relate. She assumed it was one of the things the old rich families did; strict fathers and children who lived their lives in a dictated fashion. Her younger sister, Hanabi, was the most loved daughter, so her father practically ignored her in favour of the prodigy but she was so thankful for that. If Hanabi hadn't of been born, she would have been forced to live a structured life, even more so than she was - she wouldn't have met her friends and experience the things she had. Even though he shouldn't have snuck out (he would have worried his parents beyond belief!), Hinata couldn't blame Sasuke. She understood the feeling all too well.

Unfortunately, Fugaku didn't.

Neither man was in the car yet. Perhaps if they had been, those in the hallway wouldn't have heard the argument between father and son. Fugaku was more than just angry and Sasuke, while apologetic, was far too stubborn than he should have been. Eventually though, he gave in, letting Fugaku stomp right over him, so much so that Sakura's father wanted to step outside and have a few words with the man. Her mother stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"It isn't wise to mess with power, dear." Both her father and Naruto tried to protest. "Nor is it wise to interfere with family affairs. They'll need to work it out themselves if things are ever going to get better. Interfering will only slow or stop the process. Just be there for him, its all you can do."

As Sasuke was shoved in the passenger seat, door slammed behind him, Sakura knew that would be much easier said than done.


	22. Aftermath

After he left, and on both days of the weekend, she messaged him though Sasuke didn't reply. She'd put that down to him being embarrassed - he was extremely stubborn and proud after all. Unfortunately, Sakura's suspicions were confirmed when Sasuke didn't show up to school on Monday. Kakashi-sensei didn't call his name, so his parents must have called in already. Class was dismissed early; before it was, she said she needed help with the homework.

"Didn't Sasuke help you with homework the other night?"  
"You could just be honest, you know!"

She ignored the comments, the crows, the laughter and insinuations. Ino looked at her worriedly, sensing something was up. Please, she was the smartest in the class besides Shikamaru (since he only did the barest minimum of work to pass, she didn't count him) - her idiot classmates should look beneath the underneath. What a pack of morons.

Kakashi-sensei understood her though. She knew the look in his eye - he wasn't going to make it an easy battle. "Yes?"  
"Don't play dumb sensei. Where's Sasuke?"  
He chuckled, leaning back in his chair. "Always the number one devoted fangirl, huh?"

"I just told you not to mess around, sensei." She may look cute with a small frame, pink hair and bright green eyes, but at that moment, her voice was like poison. Kakashi was a family friend (she didn't miss the fact practically everyone in this class was close to Kakashi in some way either), so he knew her better than most - she wouldn't have tried that tone or attitude with any other teacher but he knew she was serious.

Still, it was a moment before he answered. "What was your story on Friday night?"  
"We said his brother was ill and his dad had come to pick him up early."  
"Smooth save. Its convenient that the tabloids are now reporting that Itachi was hospitalised due to illness, huh?"  
"Don't speak about things like that so casually!"

His head rolled around to look at her again, rather than the roof. "Sometimes, its best to let sleeping dogs lie. They wake on their own often enough."

Clenching her fists, she nodded. She'd tried and Kakashi wasn't known for making things easy. He wouldn't tell her everything - Sasuke was a student and his information private and confidential, it was worth more than his job to spill the boy's secrets. But as long as he was keeping an eye on the situation, she was okay. Sakura wasn't happy by all means, but Kakashi would let her know if anything incredibly serious was going on. She only hoped that by the time he did, it wasn't too late to do anything.

. .

_'Bowing out already? Child star Uchiha Sasuke refusing to go to school! All the latest on page three!'_

_'Uchiha Sasuke, notable television personality, has reportedly not turned up to school for more than two weeks now - Konoha Gakuen has not been able to contact the family at all, leading to serious concerns for Sasuke's safety'_

_'Students report that Uchiha was paying others to do his school work and was also quite the ladies man-'_

_'After numerous fights and intense arguments with his classmates-'_

The tabloids were obviously making shit up, but it didn't make him less mad. If anything, his irritation just sat there, stewing and bubbling as Fugaku refused to allow him to say anything. Even doing anything was off limits.

The sibling's show was put on hiatus (though they had done enough filming for there not to be any issues) and all work had been stopped (this mostly meant interviews and the like as all of his personal work had been wrapped up). Sasuke was forbidden from leaving the manor, even to stroll the gardens; Itachi was only slightly better - his brother was allowed to go to university twice a week (once to collect work and once to hand it in), but he was also confined to the grounds. Well, that was what the rule was going to be once Itachi came home from hospital.

So far, Itachi had been gone for two weeks (he'd been admitted the morning after the party) yet he wasn't allowed to visit him. Sasuke was more than angry - Itachi was his family too! Yes he'd screwed up and done the wrong thing, but this was serious! This wasn't a fair punishment at all! After all the effort the four of them had made to become a family again, Fugaku was ruining it all with his iron fist, his need to control absolutely everything. The man worked from home now, making sure to watch the going ons of the house via the security cameras which linked directly to his computer.

Yes, he screwed up. Suigetsu screwed up big time too. It was a dumb thing to do; he wanted to go out and had fun, but he should have respected his father's wishes. At the same time, he was pretty sure something was been hidden from him - and really, if he isn't to know about things that directly affect him and his family, how is he supposed to take them seriously and figure out a good course of action? Fugaku should have trusted him enough to confide in him. He shouldn't have trusted his son enough to go to a party for a couple of hours. There was obviously no hope of that now.

He knew his school's principal had tried to talk to his father. But much the same as Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei, the man failed. While he wasn't hated at Konoha Gakuen, he'd learnt that teenagers could be a crabby, bitchy sort and at the very least, liked to exaggerate rumours and let their curiosity run rampant. He knew the tabloids were bad, but he hated even thinking about what was being said at school. Sighing, he went back to bed - he had nothing to do so why not sleep the day away? Even if he didn't dream, he was sure it was better than staring out the same window day in and day out.

. .

After the first week, they'd been forced to tell the rest of the gang the truth, rather than their made up (but probably highly valid) lie. They'd been upset; none of them could remember the last time they'd fought or lied to each other, so this felt like a serious betrayal. Even with the truth out, the story was cushioned a bit; there was no need to make Fugaku the evil abusive parent - he was a business man, his son was seriously ill and his youngest son had snuck out - worry made people do crazy things, though it still didn't excuse his behaviour.

But they had bigger problems than Fugaku. The whole school was talking about how Sasuke was missing. Rumours went from him having a cold, to having a brother complex so severe he couldn't leave Itachi's side. There had been rumours that he'd been kidnapped or that he'd died, but they'd stamped them out quick enough. God people were stupid sometimes! Unfortunately, they were even more curious than they were idiotic.

It was common knowledge they were Sasuke's friends. They'd visited his house, met his parents and Sasuke was last seen at Sakura's. So surely they knew what was going on? They kept tight lipped - even if they did know what was happening, it wasn't anyone's business! Thankfully, their teacher's were sick of all the drama and were quick to punish people who harassed them or made stupid comments. Lessons were more relaxing for them than breaks were but all of them agreed that they couldn't wait until Sasuke was back. Or at the very least, let them know what the hell was going on so they wouldn't be harassed anymore. Considering how the silence dragged and the rumours grew well until the holidays, they were hoping for something that had a snowball's chance in hell.

. .

Summer holidays rolled around. The days were hot and he was lazy, having nothing but school work to do (he'd managed to convince his father to let him keep up the work even if was just so he wasn't driven mental by lack of stimulation). The tabloids had given up the gossip, finding more interesting topics to pursue. Itachi was home, though he was still unwell. While he was still hospitalised, the doctor in charge had said it appeared he had cancer - it turns out the man was an idiot and Itachi was just ill with a few different things Sasuke couldn't pronounce. Despite the fact Itachi was sick, he still went out (of course, his ban on leaving had been lifted being the precious golden boy and all). Sasuke was more than curious, especially because both Itachi and Kisame told him to keep his nose out of it, yet both came back with nothing at all, looking more irritated than when they'd left.

Itachi refused to tell Sasuke. He and Kisame kept things to themselves, not sharing much with the rest of the family. Ever since it had come out the one for the rumour about his mother was on the inside, the duo had been much more tight lipped. After all, if Fugaku found out they were hopping around drinking establishments trying to find Suigetsu, he'd be outrageously mad. Most of the time, they came back with nothing, not even finding a trace of the man. Occasionally, they found him but he slipped away before they could reach him. Other times, they only caught him because he was so drunk he was close to passing out (or already had). It was infuriating.

But from when they did get some drunken mumbling out of him, they all amounted to missing Sasuke. The man's feelings were obvious and Itachi couldn't help but smile - the man was an idiot but he had many more good qualities than bad. He was furious too, of course, and honestly, he wasn't sure what to think of having someone that much older than Sasuke lust after him (hell, he didn't even know how Sasuke felt). Kisame always brought him back to earth though, reminding him of the trouble Suigetsu was in and how Fugaku was as old fashioned as they came. Fugaku also wasn't stupid and he was noticing their frequent outings. They couldn't keep this up forever. So the next time they found Suigetsu, they'd give him a letter. If he refused to take it, they'd post it or publicise it in the local paper or put it on tv. Whether he wanted to see it or not, he was going to get it.

Mikoto had placed her own small letter within the envelope as well. She was apologetic and set out her stance on the issue. She mentioned what was happening at home and told him that he would have been welcomed back in a heart beat if it were her choice. Kisame had a small scrap of paper he'd scrawled on, encouraging him and speaking in odd slang he didn't understand, but the general gist was to not give up on his job, the family or Sasuke. His own letter was much longer, probably far too long, and it said much of the same as the other two already had.

He hated seeing the man as he was. He was supposed to laugh and mark sarcastic jokes and be annoying. He wasn't supposed to look haggard and old with red-rimmed eyes and look so lack lustre. He shuddered. Would that be him and Kisame if Fugaku found out about their relationship? Sasuke if he never got to be with someone? While he still had bones to pick, making sure 'the right way' won out was more important and he'd make sure he'd make everyone happy, even if it killed him.

* * *

I honestly wasn't up to writing last week. This chapter was mostly done, but I wanted to write a few more scenes. I'm still sick so I didn't want to butcher them, so next week I'll get on them. And I'll try to rectify the pace of this as well.


	23. Remembering

When he first met Sasuke, he thought the boy was a brat. Weren't all celebrity kids little shits? He certainly looked the type, fashionable clothes, a wide smirk and a gleam in his eyes, drawling like he thought the world belonged to him. He had a sharp tongue and wit to match and wasn't keen on outsiders. Suigetsu hadn't expected that. He thought that people in the spotlight enjoyed it, the lights and the cameras and the _click click click _of paparazzi tools and thousands of questions were shouted at them.

But this boy wasn't like that. The family wasn't like that. They held themselves with grace and perhaps did look down on others a bit, but in a sense, he could understand that. Uchiha's were talented in many fields, from science to academics, to art and other performances. If there was something they couldn't do, they'd practice until they could, and then more, until they were among the best of said field. It didn't make them less annoying or the looks less insulting, but they weren't stuck up for no reason.

He didn't want to be a security guard. He wanted a job where he could laze around and get pissed from Friday night and rock up to work hungover without getting in trouble. But his brother and so called friend insisted, and there he was, donning a suit and protecting a brat. In the beginning, they'd fought a lot. Well, he wanted to. Most times, Sasuke would drop comments but because he was around more trusted staff or family members, Suigetsu had to hold his tongue. The boy obviously didn't like him and wanted him gone. Suigetsu never really took it personally - _you can't like everyone, after all. _

He wasn't entirely sure why, but Sasuke started to change. He made less smart arse comments and was generally quieter. Suigetsu put it down to the work he had to do. _But if he does this all the time, why is he only getting tired now? _So he came back one night, having forgotten something, to see the teen racing out of the dining room, face red and tears in his eyes. Midori ran past, following the distraught teen, glaring at him to keep his mouth shut. He'd never felt so much pity for another person in his life.

_So home is like a cage, huh? Daddy says "do this" and you flip over backwards. But you're tired of being a show pony, you just want an actual family. _He wasn't the type to be all fluffy or have deep emotional talks, but after that, he felt more thankful towards his brother. After that, he felt more sorrow to the Uchiha children. Itachi wasn't his concern, but surely he could do something for Sasuke? It wasn't a job he'd sought or wanted, so if he got booted for fighting for the kid, at least he could just shove all the problems in the bin and move on with his carefree existence.

But no. Fugaku had begrudgingly agreed with him. Sasuke should be able to have a life. So he planned outings. They went to the city, to the beach, cat cafes, regular cafes (which Sasuke insisted were far lamer) and to amusement parks. He spent time with mother and son, and the rest of the family. They started to come together as a unit, as they should have been from the start. Fugaku was starting to thaw, and he felt happy for them. _It's nice to have people you can talk to, who will understand and appreciate you. _

He'd caused a bit of a commotion talking to Mikoto. _This entire thing is bullshit. I'd hate to be a celebrity. _Lies and slander coloured the papers and television and he knew Mikoto and Fugaku fought viciously. He wasn't allowed to go to work for a while, but Kisame filled him in. When he returned, Mikoto grudgingly did as she was told, having tea with him out in the open with the door wide open, though she spoke so quietly he had to strain to hear her, so what was the point?

Sasuke had been annoyed slightly, more over the fact he didn't know they'd been having tea together rather than the false rumours. "I could have been telling you to drop her hints for what I want from Christmas!" He'd laughed and the two of them got over it. It was strange; he could never really pinpoint where their relationship had changed from bratty teen and guard to grudgingly accepting teen and guard to somewhat friends. Maybe Sasuke had just gotten used to him? Figured he wasn't going to budge and realised he had to put up with him? Maybe he did enjoy the company, as forced as it may be - when was the last time he'd spoken to someone near his age before?

It was rocky, but the family started to bond again. Again, he leapt to the young Uchiha's aide, demanding he be able to go to school. He was responsible for everything, but that was okay (but he was so daunted - he'd never been responsible for anything in his life! Couldn't his first task be easier?). Yet things went better than planned. Sasuke did well in school, both academically and socially. He felt proud, because he'd given this kid a new outlook on life, something that was so _normal_ for most people and for someone who had so much money, it shouldn't have been an issue.

But it was more than pride. He really hated to admit it, but he had a feeling Mikoto was right. He might have been crushing, just a little. He was twenty though, and Sasuke was just seventeen. The age gap wasn't really a problem; Sasuke was probably more mature than him if he were honest. He was a guy who'd spent his childhood causing havoc, getting into fights and kissing and telling - he certainly wasn't adverse to having a relationship with his boss. But it wasn't just Sasuke who was his boss. Fugaku and Mikoto both ran his life (one for the better and one who jumped between 'good' and 'evil'). Mikoto had given the okay, but had she been joking? And its not like gay marriage was legal in Japan (though really, what was a fancy piece of paper anyway?).

Fugaku was the problem. Traditional and stubborn, thinking he knew what was best for everyone. He'd won a few small battles against the man, but how far could he tip the boat? Even if he was crushing, that didn't mean he'd make a move anytime soon - it was inappropriate while the kid was still in school (despite him being of legal age). Suigetsu didn't know what he'd do if he'd played his cards wrong and was booted out of the Uchiha's lives. He'd rather be Sasuke's friend than Sasuke's nothing.

There would be no teasing comments or annoyed looks. No eye rolls when he had to explain something (that should have been so _very _obvious) to his senior and to rambles about how fantastic cats were. No grumbling about school or work, no smiles when Suigetsu took him somewhere new, no small thank yous or time with the family. He'd be alone again, drinking his nights away in his crappy apartment and having nothing to do. Well, he'd have something to do, he'd find something, but would it be worth it? He never thought he'd get into charity, and perhaps fighting for a rich celebrity didn't equate to charity for most people, but for him, he felt he was doing something useful. _I'm making a difference. I'm not saving the world or stopping wars or diseases or hunger, but I'm making this kid's life better. _

And it wasn't just school and friendship and visiting the real world. He'd been helping figure out Itachi too. _They can tell me theres nothing wrong until their blue in the face, but I'll still call bullshit. _The elder Uchiha was often missing recently. Kisame went along and despite them supposedly being in the house, they were nowhere to be found. He couldn't help the weight in his gut. It felt cold and hard and he _knew_ there was something he was missing, something obvious and it made him pissed. _Family's don't hide shit from each other. Their supposed to work through it. Together. _

But what did it matter? He screwed up. He gave Sasuke a chance at having fun, to rebel like a normal teen and it backfired. It wasn't that he forgot about the stalker, he'd just underestimated them. Not even that; he'd assumed Fugaku had done his job as a father, and the issue was mostly resolved. Why the hell hadn't Fugaku dealt with the problem sooner? He was one of the most powerful men in the country, with a family of influential people behind him - why let things drag out? It didn't excuse him from being irresponsible. Shit, how would he have felt if something had happened at the party? If Sasuke had been hurt, seriously so? He clenched his eyes, imagining Mikoto bawling and Itachi not being a stoic statue for once. Fugaku would lash out in a rage, getting justice for his son who he generally paid no mind. _It's a matter of pride. _

That was the way things were now though. He'd screwed up and paid the consequences. He'd paid his rent and bills in advance, giving him time to mope before pulling himself together to find another job. _This time, I'll get one where there are no attachments. _He may have drunk a (lot) more than normal, but so what? A man was allowed to grieve, wasn't he? Sometimes, as he stared into liquid that changed colour with the lights and vibrated with loud music, he wondered what it was that he was grieving. _A home. Even though it was work, it felt like home. It was starting to become warm. _And every time he had to be dragged out of a bar or stumbled home alone, he mourned the could have beens, the laughter and the smiles that would never be and the chances he'd lost.

* * *

Sorry this was late! Next week will be focused on Sasuke, Fugaku and Madara. Stay well!


	24. Answers

Even though time was going forward, Sasuke felt that it was actually going backwards. He wasn't allowed to attend school anymore, and was back to having tutors breathe down his neck and mutter about posture and 'kids these days'. He was back at work, though only when it was convenient for Itachi. His blog was regulated more, though what did have to post about? His family was drifting apart, his mother seeming to attempt to both pacify and rebel against his father (a futile effort) while the man had slammed his iron fist down upon everything he didn't agree with again.

Of course he'd done the wrong thing. So had Suigetsu. But there was no point to the punishments. Suigetsu had made _one_ screw up, one that hadn't even ended up badly, yet he was fired. If anything, in his opinion, Suigetsu's actions should have been over looked - they finally were a family again, and shouldn't he be rewarded for that work? For himself, he understood not being able to go to school, though he also knew it was suspicious to the public and was causing more harm than good. Having him mope around the house certainly wasn't making anyone happier.

Nor was keeping Itachi a secret. For the most part, his brother was in his room, or nowhere. It irked Sasuke. He had tried to appeal to his mother but she had simply shook her head at him. Before Suigetsu had come along, he'd been a brat. He hadn't had a massive change of heart, but he'd learnt not everyone would treat him like an amazing celebrity or an ignorant child, which had been what he wanted. He'd wanted normality, and been given that by his guard. For the first time in a long time, he felt like he was allowed to be honest, allowed to be an actual person rather than a pawn again. So when his mother refused to give him answers that should have rightfully been given, he snapped.

He yelled and screamed at her, furious. How dare she keep secrets? How dare she let Fugaku tear them apart under his bullshit beliefs? How dare she not stand up for herself and her children? The entire time, despite his rage, she stayed still. There were no tears or apologies, no answers. She simply stood there, accepting his insults and criticisms without complaint. When he was done, he stayed still, glaring and panting, chest heaving. She simply said "I know" before walking off.

He felt as though he was going to vomit. How could he speak to his mother like that? So things stayed the same. His mother went back to being her quiet self, smiling and laughing when the cameras were on, but being reserved and aloof when at home. Itachi had no time for him, claiming he was far too busy and didn't understand his school work. _Like anyone would believe a genius when they say that. And I could probably help you better than Kisame could anyway_. _At least make your lies believable_. Fugaku was rarely home, for which he was thankful - at least it meant he'd have fewer outbursts. But he couldn't help but think he wanted the man there, to watch the crumble, to watch them become unhappy. He wanted to yell and scream, to be honest with the man. _He won't be back for another week… I suppose I'll just stay miserable until then…_

. .

"You need to get off your arse, y'know?" Suigetsu groaned as someone threw open the curtains.  
"Fuck off."  
"We haven't seen each other in so long, yet you speak to me that way? I'm hurt!"  
"..Mangetsu?" He poked his head out of his blanket pile, confirming that it was indeed his brother rummaging through his drawers, making his room even more of a mess. "What're you doin' here?"

"Kisame called. Said you were being a bitch."  
"Kisame can get stuffed."  
"The bottles of booze in the lounge say he's right."  
"Like you can talk! The both of you drink like fishes outta water!"  
Chuckling, his brother agreed. "Ya gotta point there. But do what I say, not what I do."

Snorting, he stumbled out of bed and headed for the bathroom. By the time he'd showered and dressed, his brother was nowhere to be seen. So he went about his daily routine of watching bad tv shows, regretting his stupidity and getting pissed (both from memories and the booze). His brother came back in sometime before dinner, with a few bags of food and more alcohol, despite his earlier comments.

"Got caught up with a pretty girl!"  
"Don't even wanna know."  
With a thump his brother flopped onto the couch beside him, almost sitting on his sprawled out form. "Kisame didn't tell me the whole story, but to me, it looks like you're missing out on you're own pretty girl."  
"It ain't even that."  
"You've always been a shit liar, ya know?"

Sighing, he figured he might as well spill the beans. Mangetsu probably wouldn't leave until he heard the full story, and he liked his apartment quiet (not to mention the two of them didn't live together without beating each other up often). Sitting up, the bastard smirked at him, making him narrow his eyes in response. But he still spoke. He told him about the job, how he'd gotten the family together again, how Sasuke had been starting to have normalcy. He spoke about how he thought that they were good friends, how he thought the boy had a personality to match his personality (and he made sure to elbow Mangetsu when he snorted at the corniness of it), how he'd helped the kid sneak out like he had a million times before. He talked about how he tried to keep tabs on the family, but how it made him feel like shit. How he thought of the could have beens and how he wondered if he actually saw Sasuke as a crush or-

"If you're this mopey, how is that even a question? You're corny and gross. You look like a lost dog. It's pathetic. But I s'pose thats what love is, huh?" Suigetsu stared at him, shocked his brother was okay with not only the whole age and employment thing (though they weren't exactly a duo known for their morals) but also the gender issue. But he didn't have time to mull it over too much. "The question is, will you fight? Are you gonna shove you're way back into the family and redo everything you've already done? Are you going be honest to Sauce-"

"Sasuke," he corrected immediately.  
"Sauce," the elder continued with a smirk, "and tell him how you feel? There ain't no guarantee its the answer you're looking for, but I'll disown ya if you're a coward."

He wondered briefly why Mangetsu was being so… good. They usually disagreed on pretty much anything but here he was, having come all the way from Obama because he'd heard he was upset? He had no expertise with city folk, or with the Uchiha, who were entirely different league. Its not like he was hugely successful in love either.

"Why?"  
"Does it matter?"  
He smiled softly. "S'pose not. You gonna help me screw shit up then?"  
"Thought you'd never ask!"

The night was spent on the town - the two brothers catching up and having fun. _Tomorrow, we'll start planning our battle to win the war! _He couldn't help but think it was over dramatic, but it was 4am and he was drunk as a skunk, so all he cared about was bed. _Complicated shit can wait till later._

. .

"Really?"  
"I do not go back on my word, Fugaku. I will meet you at the said time."  
"And I can question you about anything? No one will interfere? Just us, being completely honest?"  
"Do not be so skeptical, boy. I said I will keep my word. Do not be late."  
"Yes Madara."

Fugaku put down the phone. He couldn't shake the feeling that meeting Madara was too good to be true, but if it meant he figured out some of the answers… _Well, its worth a shot_.

* * *

I'll let you in on a secret. (Whispers) I have no clue what I'm doing anymore. Idk, like, this stalker thing was supposed to be a subplot but I kinda hate the original ending so this was gonna take over but I have no ideas? Next chapter will be longer to make up for the shortness, should be up next week.


	25. Admitting

"Are things going as planned?"  
"Nobody suspects a thing. Though Fugaku is doing his best to find out who the rat is."  
"Can I trust you to make sure nobody finds out?"  
"Of course! I don't know what your reasons for this whole scenario are, but I have my own reasons. I'll ruin this household from the inside. It'll hurt the people I care about, but in the long run, I think they'll forgive me."  
"You're risking a lot on that."  
She received a heavy sigh in response. "I know. But I can't see things getting better in any other situation."

She snorted and turned. Leaving, her heels clicked nosily, echoing through the empty hall. "Who would have thought such a sweet girl like you would be so jealous?" She didn't bother waiting for the answer, instead leaving the other to worry about her guilt and come to terms with how impure she really was. She couldn't help but smirk at the thought of how chaotic not only the family would be, but the media too. _Chaos is such a lovely thing~_

. .

His father was late in returning. Having nobody to talk to as Itachi was missing again and his mother in Sendai, he turned to another thing he'd been banned from - his blog. Throwing caution to the wind (because how much worse could things really get?) he started typing. It wasn't short and sweet, but brutally honest, slightly jumbled and probably long winded in places. It was a professional blog, meant for work purposes, but he was going to use it as a diary. He was a celebrity, right? It was part of the job description that your life was to be lived in the spotlight. So this time, he'd shine it on himself, rather than waiting for others to move it for him.

_It's been a while, hasn't it? I've been grounded. I still am. Oh well._ Every man and his dog wanted to be a celebrity, but nobody thought of the long hours, the constant practice and prying into private matters, the crazy fans, the horrid haters and the fact you never got to live. Sasuke wrote about the abnormalities of being a celebrity compared to what being normal was supposedly like, of how he had few moments of normality among the strange glittering days of stardom. He wrote generally on the annoyances of being a teenagers and how he legitimately enjoyed school and was still participating, just not on campus, contrary to wild rumours.

_As a teenager, I get good grades and I look nice enough with no zits. I have a lot of money and a nice family. I have friends and I want for nothing. I should be happy, but I'm so far from it. I wonder sometimes why I'm called a star. I started my career by mimicking my brother. I never really had my own talents. I wonder if I've ever truly made my own choices, rather than just follow along in the footsteps of others or follow the orders of another person. Do I love what I do? I guess. Its a hobby, but do I love it enough for it to be my future? Do I love it because its the only thing I can do?_

He typed away at the keyboard, letting the words flow. There were probably typos, but to be honest, he didn't give a damn. He wanted the world to see it. He wanted his parents to see it, Itachi to see it, Suigetsu, his school friends. Everyone. He wanted them to read about how he just wanted to laze around in cat cafes, to be able to join a school club like a normal person, to go to parties without having his overbearing father rock up and cause a scene. He wanted his family to see that he felt he was everyone's shadows, that he loved them but wasn't sure it was reciprocated, that he was sick of the bullshit and the lies. He wanted his bodyguard back and some control over his life.

_I wanted to tell you all this personally, but I've never had the guts to do so._ _I've been called a coward more than once. I like to pretend I'm cool and strong, but I have no idea what I'm doing half the time. I suppose actings good for me like that - I can use someone else's words and thoughts without having to figure things out myself. I always said I'd change, become stronger and more honest. I always hated being called a coward. But again, I was just all words. But I'm serious now. Some people might hate me for it, but I won't keep quite from now on._

_Firstly, Itachi, you're a liar and its pissing me off. Don't say we're brothers and then go and hide shit behind my back. Second, father, you're completely wrong. Obito is probably the best person to have ever come from this sneaky and backstabbing mess of a family. Third, Suigetsu, I miss you. You're rude and arrogant but you're nice. You're real. I wish I was more like you (except your teeth, what the hell is up with that anyway?)._

Three days went by and the comments went mental. The media was having a field day. Itachi hadn't bothered calling him, and he assumed his father was still busy with whatever, as his entry was still up. If he staff had been able to contact him, the words probably would have been ripped down within moments. But it was nice, refreshing even, to have to worry about things. There was nobody regulating him, no censors, no damage control.

His mother had sent him a small message. She'd said they'd talk later, but the last line made him smile. _I'm so proud of you. _But by the third day rolled around, he was restless again. _I said I wanted to be honest. I was, for the moment, but half truths aren't completely honest, are they? _Swallowing his pride, he flicked on his laptop and logged in. He created another entry and watched the cursor flash as he stared at the almost blank screen. _I suppose its now or never, really._ So with an almost overly dramatic _click_, Sasuke submitted the blog entry. _I wonder how many of you will hate me now? Or will you all be proud of me? Only time will tell._

This time the entry was short, everything in dot point form. _I have a stalker, yet I know nothing about it. There is a rat in my home. I gained too much weight after Valentine's Day. Naruto's outfits make my eyes hurt. I hate being in this huge mansion alone. I wish my cat wasn't such a bitch. I'm gay._

. .

He pulled up in front of Madara's residence and had to wait for clearance by two burly guards before being granted entry. Driving through the gates, he idly looked at the scenery. The property was a masterpiece, sure, but he wasn't here to look at perfectly manicured lawns or the dozens of flowers that were specially cultivated for the man. He wasn't interested in the mansion's architecture and marble structures either. Turning off the car, Fugaku refused to let the doorman hold his keys (with the issue being an inside job, he didn't trust _anyone_).

Fugaku followed a servant up the winding staircase and throw the brightly lit hallways. The man in front of him knocked three times. He must've received an answer, for he opened the door and ushered him in. Fugaku agreed, though did so with a frown on his face. He narrowed his eyes further at the fussing the servant did.

"_No_, I don't need a drink. I don't need anything except to talk to Madara. Alone. If you don't mind." With a sniff, the man left. Sitting across from him, Madara took a sip of water and Fugaku wondered how someone so old could radiating such power and control.

"You really should treat your servants more nicely. You never know what could happen."

"You already think its one of my servants, don't you?" Raising his voice, he demanded answers. "I don't care about your dumb politics. I don't care about the family businesses, or the Uchiha name. This is _my_ family in danger. My family living in fear and falling to pieces. Just tell me what you know so I can fix things."

Madara smirked. Fugaku instantly felt his stomach drop and knew that did not bode well. "If you had been thinking of your family from the beginning, there would be no problem." Sighing, the man never removed his confident attitude. "But since you have no clue whats going on, I suppose I'll take the time to explain it to you. If you don't interrupt, we'll get through this quickly. Shall we begin, then?"

With a stiff nod from him, Madara began his tale while he sat there with clenched fists, nails biting into his palms with every passing minute.

* * *

Yes, this was rushed, hence why I'm having a hiatus for August. Details on profile. This story has less than ten chapters left. Stay well~


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